Senegal (continued)
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government—President Abdou DIOUF (since 1 January 1981)
Political parties and leaders: Socialist Party (PS), Abdou Diouf; Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), Abdoulaye Wade; 13 other small uninfluential parties
Suffrage: universal at age 21
Elections: President—last held 28 February 1988 (next to be held February 1993); results—Abdou Diouf (PS) 73%, Abdoulaye Wade (PDS) 26%, others 1%;
National Assembly—last held 28 February 1988 (next to be held February 1993); results—PS 71%, PDS 25%, others 4%; seats (120 total) PS 103, PDS 17
Communists: small number of Communists and sympathizers
Other political or pressure groups: students, teachers, labor, Muslim Brotherhoods
Member of: ACP, AfDB, APC, CCC, CEAO, EAMA, ECA, ECOWAS, EIB (associate), FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB—Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OAU, OCAM, OIC, OMVS (Organization for the Development of the Senegal River Valley), UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Ibra Deguene KA; Chancery at 2112 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 234-0540 or 0541; US—Ambassador George E. MOOSE; Embassy on Avenue Jean XXIII at the corner of Avenue Kleber, Dakar (mailing address is B. P. 49, Dakar); telephone [221] 21-42-96
Flag: three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), yellow, and red with a small green five-pointed star centered in the yellow band; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia
Economy
Overview: The agricultural sector accounts
for about 20% of GDP and provides
employment for about 75% of the labor
force. About 40% of the total cultivated
land is used to grow peanuts, an important
export crop. The principal economic
resource is fishing, which brought in about
$200 million or about 25% of total foreign
exchange earnings in 1987. Mining is
dominated by the extraction of phosphate,
but production has faltered because of
reduced worldwide demand for fertilizers
in recent years. Over the past 10 years
tourism has become increasingly more
important to the economy.
GDP: $5.0 billion, per capita $680; real growth rate 5.1% (1988 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): -1.8% (1988 est.)
Unemployment rate: 3.5% (1987)
Budget: revenues $921 million; expenditures $1,024 million; including capital expenditures of $14 million (FY89 est.)
Exports: $761 million (f.o.b., 1988); commodities—manufactures 30%, fish products 27%, peanuts 11%, petroleum products 11%, phosphates 10%; partners—US, France, other EC, Ivory Coast, India
Imports: $1.1 billion (c.i.f., 1988); commodities—semimanufactures 30%, food 27%, durable consumer goods 17%, petroleum 12%, capital goods 14%; partners—US, France, other EC, Nigeria, Algeria, China, Japan
External debt: $3.8 billion (1988)
Industrial production: growth rate 4.9% (1986)
Electricity: 210,000 kW capacity; 760 million kWh produced, 100 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: fishing, agricultural processing, phosphate mining, petroleum refining, building materials
Agriculture: including fishing, accounts for 20% of GDP and 75% of labor force; major products—peanuts (cash crop), millet, corn, sorghum, rice, cotton, tomatoes, green vegetables; estimated two-thirds self-sufficient in food; fish catch of 299,000 metric tons in 1987
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $492 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $4.4 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $589 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $295 million
Currency: Communauté Financière Africaine franc (plural—francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes
Exchange rates: Communauté Financière Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1—287.99 (January 1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
Communications
Railroads: 1,034 km 1.000-meter gauge;
all single track except 70 km double track
Dakar to Thies
Highways: 14,000 km total; 3,770 km paved, 10,230 km laterite or improved earth
Inland waterways: 900 km total; 785 km on the Senegal, 115 km on the Saloum
Ports: Dakar, Kaolack
Merchant marine: 3 ships (1,000 GRT and over) totaling 9,263 GRT/15,167 DWT; includes 2 cargo, 1 bulk
Civil air: 2 major transport aircraft
Airports: 25 total, 20 usable; 10 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 15 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: above-average urban system, using radio relay and cable; 40,200 telephones; stations—8 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 3 submarine cables; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
Defense Forces
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force,
paramilitary Gendarmerie
Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,682,786; 878,812 fit for military service; 88,940 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: 2% of GDP, or $100 million (1989 est.)