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Viewing cable 06DAKAR1623, SENEGAL: SCENESETTER FOR GENERAL WARD

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06DAKAR1623 2006-07-07 15:22 2011-08-24 16:30 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Dakar
VZCZCXRO2191
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #1623/01 1881522
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071522Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUFGNOA/USCINCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
INFO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5666
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 DAKAR 001623 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
FOR GENERAL WARD FROM AMBASSADOR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OVIP ECON PHUM EAID MASS PGOV PREL SOCI KMCA
SG 
SUBJECT: SENEGAL: SCENESETTER FOR GENERAL WARD 
 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
1.  (SBU) As the Mission and the Government of Senegal 
prepare to host you, Senegal is preparing for presidential 
and parliamentary elections in February 2007.  The Senegalese 
are proud to have a predominantly Muslim democracy that 
preaches tolerance and visibly supports the United States in 
promoting peace and combating terrorism.  The Government of 
Senegal (GOS) is seeking to enhance economic growth, both 
short- and medium-term, to reinforce its prospects at the 
polls.  Growth has remained steady at five percent over the 
last decade, though there are some signs it has slowed in 
2006.  Despite high rates of poverty and illiteracy, Senegal 
retains a high degree of political stability and coherence. 
This in turn enables it to be a diplomatic player on a 
continent replete with conflicts.  With U.S. training and 
assistance, Senegal has also become one of the world's top 
ten contributors of peacekeepers.  Senegal aspires to become 
a more significant trading partner, but internal barriers to 
export-driven growth and continuing reliance upon foreign 
assistance have greatly retarded these hopes.  The prospect 
of a successful private sector-driven Millennium Challenge 
Account (MCA) Compact offers a realistic potential for 
breaking with the past.  Nevertheless, Senegal must do far 
more to make its investment environment attractive enough to 
entice serious foreign capital, and also to utilize its own 
substantial domestic liquidity.  Senegal could also do much 
more to develop export agro-industry to benefit its largely 
agrarian economy and further develop its relatively advanced 
telecommunications infrastructure.  Among other factors, 
Senegal must push forward more vigorously with reforms and 
strengthen its fragile judiciary that is lacking sufficient 
resources and often subject to external influences.  In fact, 
the investigation and prosecution of leading politicians and 
journalists in 2005 and 2006 has tarnished Senegal,s 
impressive human rights record.  END SUMMARY. 
 
AN IMPERFECT DEMOCRACY 
---------------------- 
2.  (SBU) Senegal is at an interesting juncture in its 
post-independence history, six years through the seven-year 
tenure of President Abdoulaye Wade (pronounced "wahd") and 
less than a year before presidential and parliamentary 
elections.  Wade was a determined and persistent opposition 
politician from 1974 who finally won an open, peaceful and 
highly competitive election in March 2000.  His victory was 
as much due to a strong Senegalese national desire for change 
after nearly 40 years of Socialist Party governments, as it 
was in favor of the "new" vision that Wade was offering.  In 
fact, having raised expectations somewhat unrealistically, 
Wade has come under tough scrutiny and criticism for not 
having realized many of his campaign promises.  His 
government also has not made much progress in implementing 
the visionary projects he trumpeted while in the opposition, 
though Wade has recently undertaken major public works 
projects in Senegal that he hopes will benefit him 
politically.  Wade and his party, the Senegalese Democratic 
Party or &Parti Democratique Senegalais8 (PDS), have 
benefited from Senegal's institutionalization of democratic 
values, respect for human rights, expansion of tolerance, 
advancement of women's rights, and freedom of expression in 
all its forms.  As a consequence, the standards by which the 
performance of his government is being measured are 
admittedly higher than those of his predecessors, a healthy 
sign that the large majority of Senegalese expect and demand 
democratic behavior from this government.  Therefore, the 
investigation and prosecution of leading politicians and 
journalists in 2005 and 2006 has tarnished Senegal,s 
impressive human rights record. 
 
SENEGAL'S UNIQUE BRAND OF ISLAM 
------------------------------- 
3.  (SBU) Wade and other Senegalese leaders operate within a 
unique context in Africa.  In addition to the democratic and 
tolerant environment noted above, Senegal is 95 percent 
Muslim.  It is instinctively resistant to religious extremism 
in general and Islamic fundamentalism in particular.  One 
reason for this moderation is Senegal's distinctive, 
syncretic and flexible interpretation of Islam.  Another may 
be its geographic position at the western edge of the Islamic 
world.  But perhaps the principal reason is the pervasive 
influence of the Sufi brotherhoods, homegrown societies that 
are hostile to external influences that they perceive as 
undercutting their own stature.  The overwhelming majority of 
Senegalese identify themselves with one of the four principal 
Brotherhoods (Tidjane, Mouride, Qu'adria, and Layenne). 
Politicians use these affiliations to advance their policies. 
 Furthermore, this religious establishment has always closely 
 
DAKAR 00001623  002 OF 005 
 
 
associated itself with and strongly supported the state, and 
has thus reinforced a strong social contract that has been a 
bulwark against more extremist religious views. 
 
SENEGAL'S ECONOMY: AN ACHILLES HEEL 
----------------------------------- 
4.  (SBU) There is general economic stability (a result of 
traditional indigenous welfare values).  Economic growth has 
averaged five percent annually in recent years but is likely 
to fall to three percent in 2006.  More than half the 
population lives in poverty; one-third to one-half have no 
reliable employment; the agricultural sector (in which 60 
percent of the population is employed) is weak and 
unreliable; and most youth see emigration as a panacea. 
Historically, agriculture has focused on peanuts as a cash 
crop adapted to Senegalese soil and climatic conditions.  But 
this sector has been in decline for several years and is 
unlikely to regain its former importance. 
 
5.  (SBU) Senegal's manufacturing and services sectors are 
hampered by major infrastructure weaknesses that prevent 
Senegal from taking advantage of its favorable geographic 
location.  Senegal's underdeveloped road and dilapidated 
railway systems do not provide adequate links to Senegal's 
landlocked neighbors, who could profit from exporting through 
Dakar's international port.  Roads are overly congested in 
major urban areas as well as poorly maintained almost 
everywhere in the country.  Electricity supplies are 
unreliable, very expensive and far from universally 
available.  This is a problem for a rational industrial 
policy where Senegal suffers a strong comparative 
disadvantage because of expensive inputs such as electricity. 
 The Port of Dakar, the closest African port to the U.S. and 
Western Europe, is in great need of modernization to meet the 
potential demand of the sub-region alone. 
 
6.  (SBU) There are some bright spots though.  Senegal met 
its goals in the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) 
program and achieved cancellation of its Paris Club debt in 
July 2004.  In 2005 and 2006, the IMF and the World Bank 
forgave over USD 1 billion in multilateral debt, potentially 
freeing up over USD 80 million per year for poverty 
reduction.  Senegal follows sound macroeconomic policies and 
has maintained low inflation and restrained public sector 
spending.  The telecommunications system is excellent by 
African standards, and after South Africa, has the second 
largest bandwidth available for Internet access on the 
continent.  An American company is rehabilitating the 
railroad between Dakar and Bamako and has already made 
significant progress.  The national airline, Air Senegal 
International, has been very successful as a sub-regional 
entity and acquired a new Boeing 737 for both domestic and 
regional service, with prospects of adding another new 737 in 
the next year.  Although Senegal has not aggressively pursued 
becoming a FAA Category One country meeting ICAO 
international air safety standards, which would permit Air 
Senegal to initiate direct flights to the United States, the 
GOS is optimistic that it will attain Category One in 2007. 
 
7.  (SBU) Despite some successes the business environment 
remains difficult.  Senegal has traditionally been a French 
and Lebanese expatriate business preserve.  Nonetheless, 
approximately 50 U.S. companies, including Citibank, Pfizer, 
Colgate-Palmolive, Exxon-Mobil, IBM, Microsoft, Ernst and 
Young, Fortesa Energy, Suffolk University, Boeing, DHL, UPS, 
Western Union and Caterpillar, operate in Senegal.  The 
American Chamber of Commerce in Senegal is active and has 
many Senegalese entrepreneurs with ties to the United States 
as members.  Input costs remain very high due to the weak 
infrastructure, insufficient competition and rigid labor 
codes and practices.  An underfinanced and understaffed 
judiciary tends to favor plaintiffs against foreign (and 
domestic) investors.  Corruption is an issue, and while Wade 
has said the right things about combating it, members of his 
own family are often rumored to demand bribes and percentages 
of investments.  While the Government rhetoric speaks 
favorably of the benefits of the private sector, in practice 
the Government involves itself in many major transactions and 
potential investments that undermine the principles of free, 
open and transparent competition. 
 
8.  (SBU) Senegal's exports to the United States average 
about USD 3 million per year, principally in frozen fish and 
foodstuffs for West African immigrants.  The Senegalese 
government long believed that Senegal could revive its once 
thriving role as a regional center for apparel manufacture 
through African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) exports. 
While a few apparel companies are preparing to take advantage 
 
DAKAR 00001623  003 OF 005 
 
 
of AGOA here, government emphasis is now on preparing 
Senegalese agricultural exporters to market traditional West 
African agricultural products to the United States.  Other 
local farmers are pursuing exports of off-season conventional 
fruits and vegetables, such as green beans. 
 
THE COLONIAL LEGACY 
------------------- 
9.  (SBU) France, the former colonial power, plays an 
enormous role in the Senegalese economy.  Over 250 French 
companies are active in Senegal, and France is indisputably 
the primary foreign investor.  France furnishes approximately 
one fourth of Senegal,s imports, which makes Senegal the 
second largest French market in the West African Economic and 
Monetary Union (WAEMU) after Cote d,Ivoire, and France 
purchases over ten percent of Senegal,s exports.  Annual 
French aid to Senegal exceeds USD 135 million.  One hundred 
sixty-five (165) French technical assistants work in the 
Senegalese Government or on French and international 
development projects.  France maintains marine, navy and air 
force bases in and around Dakar with a total troop level of 
over 1,100.  More than 20,000 French nationals reside in 
Senegal, and at least 42,000 Senegalese live in France. 
 
SENEGAL'S FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES START IN NEIGHBORHOOD 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
10.  (SBU) Senegal devotes major efforts to maintaining a 
modicum of stability on its borders.  While politically Wade 
has worked hard to expand Senegal's role on the continent and 
in world affairs, his government actually expends real 
resources (financial, material and humanitarian) with its 
near neighbors.  For example, Wade has been engaged in 
Guinea-Bissau since the September 2003 coup d'etat. 
Characteristic of Senegal's regional anxieties, Wade and his 
government continue to express great concern over the 
eventual transition in nearby Guinea in light of the failing 
health of its leader and the potential for disruptions there 
and a resulting influx of refugees to Senegal.  Also, the 
sometimes erratic behavior of Gambian President Jammeh, who 
rules the strategically located strip of land that juts into 
Senegal, raises Senegalese concerns over The Gambia's 
stability. 
 
CASAMANCE CONFLICT 
------------------ 
11.  (SBU) Internal conflict in Senegal's southernmost region 
of the Casamance has regional security implications because 
it borders The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.  During the 20 plus 
years of conflict, some of the Casamance combatants sought 
refuge in the neighboring countries.  Over the past few years 
good progress has been made to lower the level of conflict, 
thus easing border tensions.  A definitive political 
resolution to the conflict remains an elusive goal, but the 
Government and rebels signed a formal cease-fire in December 
2004, and a round of negotiations was held in 2005.  We have 
tried to use our influence with GOS civilian and military 
institutions as well as with community representatives in the 
Casamance to achieve reconciliation and a lasting resolution 
to the conflict. 
 
U.S. ASSISTANCE 
--------------- 
12.  (SBU) In addition to supporting the Casamance peace 
process, U.S. assistance to Senegal has focused on Muslim 
outreach, health, education, export promotion, promotion of 
women,s rights, good governance and decentralization. 
Approximately 130 Peace Corps Volunteers are involved in 
health, education, natural resource management and 
micro-enterprise programs.  Our model Muslim outreach program 
consists of assisting daaras (koranic schools), sending imams 
to the United States on International Visitor programs and 
donating Arabic- and English-language materials to Islamic 
schools and libraries.  The proposed MCA Compact would more 
than double annual U.S. aid, building an industrial platform 
25 miles east of Dakar to decongest the capital, create 
thousands of jobs in agro-industry and other sectors, and 
help GDP growth to reach eight percent per annum.  MCC staff 
labeled Senegal,s Compact proposal the most complex and the 
most potentially transformative of any MCA proposal received 
from the first 16 eligible countries. 
 
COMMITMENT TO REGIONAL PEACEKEEPING/COOPERATION WITH U.S. 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
13.  (SBU) In the 1990s the USG initiated the African Crisis 
Response Initiative (ACRI), a military assistance and 
training program to provide African militaries with the 
capability of participating in peacekeeping operations, 
principally in Africa.  ACRI complemented what remains the 
 
DAKAR 00001623  004 OF 005 
 
 
largest International Military Education and Training (IMET) 
program in Sub-Saharan Africa.  One objective of ACRI was to 
obviate the need for U.S. "boots on the ground" in areas 
where U.S. interests were at stake.  Senegal was a major 
beneficiary and nearly 1,400 troops received U.S. training 
under ACRI, which is now known as the Africa Contingency 
Operations Training and Assistance (ACOTA) program and is 
part of the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI).  This 
has paid major dividends through the engagement of Senegalese 
troops in their traditional areas of interest (Cote d'Ivoire) 
and in areas of traditional interest to us (Liberia).  Their 
troops are also deployed in peacekeeping operations (PKOs) in 
Darfur, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo 
(DRC), where a Senegalese officer, LTG Baboucar Gaye, 
commands UN forces.  Senegalese paramilitary gendarmes also 
serve as civilian police in UN PKOs in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 
the DRC and Haiti.  In each of these engagements the 
Senegalese have earned the well-deserved reputation of being 
highly professional, disciplined and respectful of civilian 
populations and customs.  Concurrently, the United States has 
continued to strengthen bilateral cooperation through officer 
training in the U.S.; an active visits program; provision of 
military equipment; and successful regional deployments 
(Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone) involving joint 
operations.  The former Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General 
P.K. Fall, is a graduate of Fort Leavenworth, the former 
commander of ECOWAS troops in Cote d'Ivoire, and a good 
friend of the U.S.  He assumed duties in June 2006 as the 
Senegalese Ambassador to China.  His replacement, Major 
General Abdoulaye Fall, was the UNOCI commander in Cote 
d,Ivoire before becoming the Chief of Staff. 
 
THE U.S.-SENEGAL AGENDA 
----------------------- 
14.  (SBU) For the U.S., Senegal represents our most 
important francophone partner in Africa.  Perhaps not 
coincidentally, President Wade perceives of himself as a good 
friend of President Bush.  He basked in the glow of the 
President's visit in July 2003, his December 2004 visit to 
the White House, Secretary of State Rice and Secretary of 
Agriculture Johanns, July 2005 visits and invitations to the 
last two G-8 summits.  For Senegal, the U.S. represents an 
attractive alternative to complete dependence on France.  We 
also embody values that Wade would like to establish in 
Senegal, particularly economic ones.  The basis of our 
economic successes stands in stark contrast to Senegal's 
first 40 years of statist socialism.  However, there is a 
realistic appreciation among knowledgeable Senegalese that 
the U.S. is not likely to supplant France as its principal 
partner any time in the foreseeable future. 
 
15.  (SBU) On terrorism, Senegal has been among the first 
African states to recognize the dangers posed to its own 
security by international terrorism.  It has cooperated 
actively with the U.S. in the global war on terrorism, and 
Senegal has ratified 12 of the 13 key anti-terrorist 
conventions and protocols identified by the U.S.  President 
Wade has also sent a set of draft laws to the Ministry of 
Interior that would expand the definition of terrorist acts 
and increase punishments for these acts.  Senegal is also 
leading regional efforts to combat terrorist financing. 
Intelligence sharing and vigilance along Senegal's borders is 
good and continues to improve through well-established 
channels.  A word of caution, though: Senegal has agreed to 
host the next summit of the Organization of the Islamic 
Conferences (OIC), tentatively set for 2008.  Because of a 
lack of resources, it will be highly dependent on Islamic 
states to finance all the arrangements.  We have raised our 
concerns with Senegal's leaders over the potential for 
unwanted influences from radical Muslim states, such as Iran. 
 The Senegalese have tried to reassure us that they expect to 
receive adequate financing from Senegal's "moderate" friends. 
 
16.  (SBU) We continue to scrutinize Senegal's relationship 
with Iran, Libya, Venezuela and Cuba.  Thus far, Senegal has 
done a good job in compartmentalizing and managing those 
relationships to ensure that they do not act to undermine 
Senegal's stability.  We also continue to remind Senegal's 
leaders that too close an embrace will not be well understood 
nor well appreciated in Washington.  Thus far, Wade has 
gotten the message.  With respect to the situation in Iraq, 
Senegal has been more neutral than during the first Gulf War. 
 (Senegal proudly provided troops to help evict Saddam from 
Kuwait.)  Senegal resisted French pressure to take a more 
critical posture, and in fact Wade publicly noted his 
satisfaction that Saddam had been removed from power. 
 
BOTTOM LINE 
 
DAKAR 00001623  005 OF 005 
 
 
----------- 
17.  (SBU) Senegal under Wade is a good partner, very 
sympathetic to U.S. interests, and regularly seeking ways to 
deepen the relationship.  Senegal is eager to receive 
critical Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) funding, and 
the GOS is eager to conclude its Compact in 2006. 
Economically, Senegal continues to seek U.S. partners and 
participants to improve its economy, especially in 
agro-industry and transport.  A larger number of U.S.-trained 
personnel sympathetic to the American way of doing business 
now occupy more key governmental, business and civil society 
positions than ever before, and this trend is growing, 
especially in education and the private sector, where it is 
greatly enhanced by new technologies. 
 
18.  (SBU) Bilateral relations are very warm and continue to 
deepen as we expand our areas of cooperation and seek 
additional sectors of mutual benefit.  Senegal also carefully 
considers potential U.S. reactions to its particular foreign 
policy decisions, often responding favorably when we express 
our concerns, or when we seek GOS support.  In sum, Senegal 
enjoys a close identification with the United States and many 
of our policies and values.  We just need to be mindful of 
the human rights issues and of some Senegalese sensitivities 
to too tight of a public embrace. 
JACOBS