Engaging with Its Diaspora: The Case of Senegal

Abstract

The Senegalese diaspora is widely spread across the globe, with long-established communities in neighboring African countries, Europe and, more recently, North America. Its members maintain strong ties with their origin communities and families, and are highly active in the economic development of their homeland. The Senegalese state’s engagement with the diaspora is more recent, but numerous measures have been implemented since 2000. Among these initiatives, we can identify all three types described by Alan Gamlen: capacity building, extending rights, and extracting obligations, with the latter being most prevalent.