In Kédougou, a landlocked region 700 km from Dakar in southeastern Senegal, young people and students have demonstrated on several occasions in recent weeks. They want to integrate international mining companies that mine gold in their region. An extraction activity that places gold in first place among the exported products, with a 20% increase in exports between 2018 and 2019. Nevertheless, Kédougou is one of the poorest regions in the country, with an unemployment rate of 26% – against 15% nationally.
A small group of young students chat over tea, installed in front of Souleymane Diallo’s store with several services. With a master’s degree in economics and management, he had to decide to open a small company in photocopying and mobile payments.
“I lost hope a little, I applied for a job several times at a mining company, but without getting any follow-up. I saved to invest and make my own business. I still manage to earn my bread, he says.
All other young people around him have studied, but cannot find work. They condemn the lack of transparency in the recruitment of mining companies. Mohamed Touré has already submitted his CV on many occasions, but without return.
“Since my specialty is English, I would like to do interpretation. In the beginning we were told that we were not qualified. We had the ambition to go to university to do higher studies. And now that we’re back in the region and we can not find a job, it’s frustrating, he regrets.
However, Kédougou’s labor inspector, Mamadou Mbengue, confirms that 56% and 43% of the workforce in the two largest mining companies are residents of the region … Figures criticized by Karamokho Samoura, chairman of the Kédougou Association to strategic positions:
“These employees are the unskilled workers, the workers who earn 150,000 CFA per month for very hard work. They are overexploited. This is not what we need. There are also indirect jobs compared to purchasing local products. Mining companies prefer to import what they consume as Dakar products when all these products are available here. They therefore do not allow local companies to work with them. ”
The fight for employment is also being waged by young people without a diploma from Kédougou. A discomfort that Governor Saer Ndao is trying to appease, which reminds us that the local workforce must be privileged with equal qualifications or skills:
“Mining companies have made efforts to stop the underemployment. But until you communicate what you have done, it is as if you have done nothing. And I think they should strengthen their communication on staff management and recruitment, so that young people and authorities can better understand what they are doing. There are opportunities for mining companies, but they can not absorb everything through employment. ”
Contacted by RFI, the mining companies in operation did not respond to our requests.
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