Macron pledges aid for Senegal city threatened by Atlantic
SAINT-LOUIS (AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron got a rousing welcome Saturday from tens of thousands as he visited the historic city of Saint-Louis, Senegal’s former capital, and announced an aid package of 40 million euros for the UNESCO World Heritage site which is threatened by coastal erosion from the Atlantic Ocean.
Senegal’s second city was founded in 1659 and was the capital of the west African nation until 1957. It also served as the capital of French West Africa, as it was then known, between 1895 and 1902.
Macron pledged $18.6 million to fight coastal erosion in the sleepy city, known for its beautifully colored buildings and colonial facades.
This will top up a $29.9-million package from the World Bank to stem the ocean’s advance.
The French leader also separately pledged $31 million to preserve and renovate local landmarks, including the cathedral and colonial-era mansions.
“We have seen the coastal erosion, the fears, the walls that have fallen, the economic activities destroyed and the town slowly receding in the face of what some deny — the effects of climate change,” Macron said.
Crowds thronged the city center to cheer Macron and his wife, who flew into the city from the capital Dakar with their host, President Macky Sall and his spouse.
They sang songs of welcome and held up portraits of the two leaders and the first ladies. Some held the French tricolor and the Senegalese flag.
Macron and Sall waved to the crowd as they slowly drove into the city center in an open-top limousine. Macron then walked around the Place Faidherbe, named after one of the most famous French colonial governors from the end of the 19th century.