While the legislative elections will take place on Sunday (11/17/2024) in Senegal, residents of Dakar are complaining about inflation on food products, but also about housing costs.
This is the case of Diarry Alassane Sakho. This student is enrolled in the first year of her degree at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, but she is not housed on the social campus. She lives with a host family because her financial means are not sufficient to pay rent in Dakar.
“Diarry Alassane Sakho, first year BCGS undergraduate student, Biology-Chemistry-Geosciences. I live in Golf Sud, around the Dalal Jamm hospital which is currently 15 kilometers from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Fann “specifies the young student on DW.
It’s the end of classes, and Diarry rushes to take the BRT. The last Rapid Transport Bus leaves at 9 p.m.
“If you arrive at the station before 8:50 p.m., having had time to buy your ticket and take the bus, you risk missing the bus”she points out. “If you miss it, then you will be forced, at that time, to take a taxi or a private car which costs a little more to be able to get home. This is where we realize the need to live on the social campus.”
Listen to the subject in Dakar from our correspondent Robert Adé
To play this audio please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 audio
Expensive housing budget
The housing budget of students at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar is heavy. It leaves little room for transportation, feeding and purchasing supplies. A few months ago, when classes resumed, student associations made housing indigent students a priority, regrets Diarry.
“I am on a scholarship. For the first year, I receive 40,000 CFA francs per month. There are associations which offer rooms to the needy, to students who have neither family in the city of Dakar nor the means to find a place to live. accommodation.”
And she adds that she “tried to be one of these students, but in vain. So I live in a family house which is right here in Dakar”.
Capping of rent prices
To curb the explosion in housing prices, the new authorities had capped room rental rates in Dakar. More than six months later, these prices continue to rise. They remained unchanged for students who face several other charges, explains Diarry.
“Already, many students are not from the city of Dakar. The simple fact of leaving your native region, your parents, to join an unknown environment is a bit difficult”constate Diarry Alassane Sakho.
“It’s not easy with transportation costs. We also have to buy the courses, the booklets and everything that goes with it.”
Coming from Matam, a city located more than 500 kilometers from Dakar, where she obtained her baccalaureate, Diarry Alassane Sakho is also passionate about football. She has just celebrated her 20th birthday, and dreams of becoming a public works engineer. To be useful in Doumga Ouro Alpha, his native village, located near the border with Mauritania.
