This text is part of the special section on International Cooperation
If people came to carry their waste and in exchange, they were given food? This is the idea that the entrepreneur Cheikhou Oumar Diallo had in Hann Bel-Air, a district municipality of Dakar in Senegal. His project is supported by the Municipal Development and Solidarity Fund and by the Center for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI).
In order to fight against illegal emigration, which is a deadly scourge in Senegal, citizens are trying to find promising avenues for young people, whose job prospects are limited. “Personally, I lost two brothers at sea and it was after taking part in a training course to find solutions to tackle illegal emigration that I had the idea of creating the Super Mbalit store, a social economy project to collect, sort and recover waste,” explains Cheikhou Oumar Diallo, 25.
While Hann Bel-Air has traditionally been a fishing village, dwindling fish resources are not helping the job prospects for young people. At the same time, the management of residual materials represents a major challenge in Senegal for financial, technical and organizational reasons. The situation is particularly difficult in Hann Bel-Air.
“The population has doubled in recent years, which has amplified the problem of waste management, so the project proposed by Cheikhou Oumar Diallo is considered particularly interesting and promising”, says Alioune Kébé Dia, volunteer for CECI in Senegal. and who acts as a fundraising advisor.
With his small team of entrepreneurs, Cheikhou Oumar Diallo opened the shop in September and people are slowly starting to bring their waste there.
About thirty women also work to transform the waste. “With materials that can be reused, they make shoes or furniture, for example, then with organic waste, they make compost,” illustrates Mr. Diallo.
“This project is important for the women since it enables them to make their contribution to provide for the financial needs of their families”, observes Alioune Kébé Dia.
There are still a lot of efforts to raise awareness in the community since waste is still far from being seen by the general population as value-creating resources.
“We organize popularization workshops on the importance of collecting, sorting and recovering waste,” says Mr. Dia. We manage to attract a lot of people: the project generates interest. »
serve as a role model
So much the better if the Super Mbalit store in Hann Bel-Air arouses interest because Cheikhou Oumar Diallo has big ambitions. “I would like each district of Dakar to have its own shop and then we can extend the concept to the rest of the country. »
Alioune Kébé Dia also remarks that interest is present in neighboring municipalities. “It is certain that, if we create several branches of Super Mbalit in the city of Dakar and that we manage to aggregate all the activities, we could operate on a larger scale and have a greater impact. »
“After Dakar and the rest of Senegal, I would like to extend the concept elsewhere in the world, says Cheikhou Oumar Diallo. Why not even in Canada? »