Both were guests of the weekly economic program “ Eco Seeds » on Sudfm, on the issue of the future of the construction sector in Senegal which has been hit hard and since last May by the repercussions of measures to stop all construction sites in the coastal zone and on ten sites in Dakar, leading to more than 10,000 lost jobs and without any support measures being put in place.
« As far as we know, there are actually no support measures that was taken and worse, we were neither consulted nor associated with these decisions, even if we can understand their merits and justification », Explains the president of Spebtps. But it is to add that “ we cannot deprive economic actors of their livelihood overnight and put so many jobs at risk. I myself had to furlough staff and when you talk about 10,000, I would rather say around 20,000 jobs affected by these measures. », continued Mr. Ndir.
For them, in this situation, the bosses manage to reassign to other sites and other functions, but “ the evil is there! »
Along the same lines, the president of the SNBTP believes that “ This is a measure that disrupts the professional sector, especially since we were expecting, after six months of stopping these projects, for there to be support measures. A consultation would have made it possible, for example, to discern and preserve programs where there was nothing to complain about. »
The Senegalese freediving company
Beyond the specific question, the concern should be that of the question of economic rationality in a context where young people are taking to the sea, or the desert, where businesses are closing… “Already, we have suffered the full brunt of the effects of the Covid pandemic and our businesses were completely at a standstill,” explains Mr. Ndiaye. “ Then there were the political events of 2021 which led to enormous disruptions, particularly to activity; if we add all the other political upheavals that have followed one another, you cannot imagine the negative impact on the business, particularly in the construction industry. »
The perennial problem of public procurement also returned to the debate and according to the president of the SNBTP, “ From 2019 to 2021, recorded individual markets amount to 9,700 billion CFA francs that foreign companies have contracted to the detriment of our portfolio. » In this dynamic, continues Mr. Ndiaye, “ with the different regimes that have succeeded one another in Senegal, a lot of money has been injected but this has had no impact on our economy and our businesses, despite growth rates which have evolved positively. »
The message is the same, underlines Mr. Ndiaye: “ There is a need to readjust our public policies and break with the extroverted nature of our economy which is killing our businesses, particularly small businesses which are in abeyance! And someone asked me how do you survive?»
It is President Ndir who gives the answer: “ We survive first of all by investing less in production tools, we have not renewed our equipment; we have not rewarded or even increased salaries; we ourselves, the bosses, receive much more modest income; In short, we tightened our belts! »
-And to add: “ We starved ourselves and that is what we no longer want, especially since we found ourselves in the position of beggars, and I weigh my words carefully without mentioning a country because I do not want to upset anyone, because here is what We were invited to approach foreign companies, who looked down on us, to respectfully solicit our small share of local content. »
For his part, Mr. Ndir believes that “ This cannot continue because whoever pays commands and it is the Senegalese people who order, who will reimburse and who must therefore demand that the infrastructure be built by Senegalese companies so that the profits remain in Senegal. » It would be necessary, adds Mr. Ndiaye, « that major structuring projects benefit our economy, our businesses, our households. »
Co-contracting, no more subcontracting
In the current state of affairs, construction bosses believe that the principle of subcontracting must be reviewed. In this subcontracting regime, “ You give all the contractual powers to a holder who crushes the local companies, firstly the low prices, the conditions of execution and payments, that is to say that the contracting authorities in general have put the company Senegalese in a precarious situation that must be corrected », underlines the president of the SNBTP.
This correction could be done through co-contracting instead of subcontracting. A rather risky option because, in this form of partnership, each party is held responsible for the possible failures of another. But for the president of the SPEBTPS, the sentence is clear: “ Personally, from a philosophical and ideological point of view, I firmly reject any form of solidarity grouping with non-Senegalese companies. For me, the public order must go to Senegalese construction companies, especially since they have all the qualities and qualifications to carry out all types of public works in Senegal and even elsewhere. »
Except that Senegalese construction companies are often criticized for a quality problem in their works. “ There is no quality problem, there is just a problem of means and supervision », assures Mr. Ndir who informs that “ It is these same Senegalese companies that carry out infrastructure in other countries, go to Mali, Sierra Leone, Gambia to name just these countries, most of the infrastructure is carried out by Senegalese companies. In terms of prospects, construction bosses have “ good hope that things will change » because, according to M. Abdel Kader Ndiaye, « We cannot build economic sovereignty that is not built on economic patriotism and national preference, which moreover is not a slogan because all the major countries that have developed have done so on this basis. ».
Sombé FAYE
