With no catch to fill them, the fishing crates had been transformed into makeshift seats on which dozens of young Senegalese were slumped. On the beach at Kayar, a small town some 50 kilometers northeast of Dakar, some of their oilskins were still wet from the night they spent at sea on Thursday, April 4. "For nothing or almost nothing. Fishing has been bad again. For years, we've earned nothing. We're just working to feed ourselves," said Serigne Diouf, staring out at the choppy sea.

The 30-year-old sailor is ready to leave his country for "adventure" in the direction of Europe. Around him, about 30 young people were shouting out, claiming that they too want to flee "a life that has become too hard" because "the big foreign fishing boats have stolen [their] work," said Aliou Diop, a 21-year-old fishmonger. They believe the fishing agreement that opened Senegalese waters to large European vessels, concluded in 2014 between the European Union and former president Macky Sall, is the symbol of the "injustice" that marked his administration.

All of them say they voted on March 24 for his main opponent, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, elected in the first round on the strength of a bold promise: to break with a political and economic system that has reinforced socio-economic inequalities and arbitrariness. According to the new head of state, the goal is to build "a sovereign, just and prosperous Senegal."

It is true that the ambitious policy of major works undertaken by Sall, in power between 2012 and 2024, has changed the face of Senegal. The country has been equipped with modern infrastructure: Freeways have been laid out, a new administrative capital has sprung up in Diamniadio and luxury apartment blocks have sprung up in Dakar. But like many Senegalese – whose average income is estimated at 90,000 CFA francs a month (€137), according to the Center for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa – the fishermen of Kayar have not reaped the dividends of this liberal policy, which has given pride of place to foreign investors.

Despite sustained growth (5% on average between 2012 and 2024), Senegal has dropped 15 places in the Human Development Index (HDI) country rankings. The number of unemployed, meanwhile, doubled between 2015 and the end of 2023, rising from 675,000 to 1.28 million, or 19.5% of the population, according to the Ministry of the Economy. "That's why we'd rather risk dying at sea than stay here," said Diouf.

In Kayar, as in many coastal villages, migrant departures have multiplied in recent years. Between 2010 and 2019, emigration flows from Senegal increased by 18%, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), to the point of making the country the second West African state from which citizens emigrate the most, behind Nigeria.

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