According to the World Bank, Senegal is one of West Africa’s economic bright spots, but nearly 40% of its roughly 16 million inhabitants live on less than $1.90 a day. It is also one of the countries in the region worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic with 190 confirmed cases to date.
Last week, Senegal declared a state of emergency and imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in a bid to curb the spread of the virus. The government has also closed the schools and banned mosque prayers but as in other poor African countries, there are fears that ordering people to stay home in Senegal would be economically unworkable.
Many citizens who work in the country’s large informal sector are suffering as more people stay at home, causing sales to plummet. Therefore, the Senegal government is making plans to offer food aid to millions of people. The plan is to purchase tonnes of rice, pasta, sugar and cooking oil in order to help some of the country’s poorest.
The state is seeking offers for 5,000 tonnes of uncut rice, 500 tonnes of sugar, 10,000 litres of cooking oil and 1,000 tonnes of pasta and seeks to purchase thousands of packets of soap. In a statement accompanying the public tender, the government said around one million vulnerable households, corresponding to around eight million people would be eligible for the aid.
