Africa Notes: Uneasy Passage: Senegal in 1993 - June 1993

Despite its small size and limited resources, Senegal has been influential in its region and beyond. Contributing to this high profile is the fact that Dakar, the capital, was the administrative center of French West Africa in the colonial era; as a result, Senegal inherited valuable infrastructure that included a major port, an international airport, rail and road connections to neighboring countries, a radio network, and a university. Another key factor in Senegal's salience was the role played by Leopold Sedar Senghor, the poet-scholar who was president from independence in 1960 through the end of 1980. Under his leadership, Dakar became a dynamic cultural and intellectual center, attracting artists and writers from all over the world.

Samba Ka