Senegal's industrialization leaves behind toxic waters

Trash floods the beaches of Hann Bay in Dakar, the capital of Senegal. For the last two decades, the port city has played a central role in the industrialization of the West African coastal state. The consequences have devastated the area.

The metropolis is located on the Cap Vert Peninsula, which forms a sheltered bay to the south known as Hann Bay. Both the harbor and a large part of Senegal's industry are located here. Unregulated chemical waste and untreated wastewater flow into the bay via canals, while plastic waste has buried itself meters deep into the beaches.

At 14 kilometers (about 8.6 miles) long, Hann Bay was once known as one of the most beautiful beaches in West Africa. "When we were children, the beach was full of fine, white sand," remembers environmental activist Mbacke Seck (not pictured). A large poster in the only hotel in the neighborhood (above) is a reminder of those beautiful beaches.

Dakar was built around a French fort in the middle of the 19th century, and looks back on a sad history of slave trade. Today, an overseas harbor is located in the sheltered bay, which is used by an oil refinery in addition to numerous industrial companies — including processing plants for wood, textile and plastics.

The green water of the canal near the bay is full of algae, and polluted. Many residents dispose of their wastewater directly into the small waterways that run through the neighborhood around Hann Bay. In addition to untreated industrial wastewater, even slaughterhouse waste ends up in the bay. Skin diseases, gastrointestinal complaints and respiratory illnesses are common among residents.

The inhabitants of the Cap Vert Peninsula were fishing in the area long before Dakar was officially founded. Today, the region's fishing industry suffers from the effects of unregulated pollution. Fish stocks are dwindling in the heavily polluted waters and fishers in the coastal region now have to travel far out to sea to catch fish.

In 2020, the Senegalese government announced it would build pumping stations and sewage treatment plants in the affected neighborhood. Environmental organization Waterkeeper Alliance reported that industry and private households would be connected to a modern sewage network.

The lives of locals are inextricably linked to the water, but some families have forbidden their children to play and swim on the beaches. The government's environmental cleanup project is financially supported by the EU and state organizations from France and the Netherlands.