Senegal Hope for troubled region with rise of local boy to PM

In April, an overnight ferry from the Senegalese capital, Dakar, arrived in Ziguinchor, the capital of the southern region of Casamance, the first such voyage in more than 10 months.

- Eromo Egbejule

The reopening of the route came a few days after a former mayor of Ziguinchor, Ousmane Sonko, became prime minister, and together the developments marked a symbolic moment for what many hope will be a new era of national integration.

For centuries, the region's location has fostered its isolation.

Casamance is linked to the rest of southern Senegal by its eastern border, but its entire northern border runs along the Gambia, the roughly rectangular English-speaking country that bisects Senegal. Unlike the rest of Muslim-majority Senegal, Casamance's population is mainly Christian.

Since 1982 it has been the site of one of Africa's longest-running conflicts, launched by the separatist Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance, which grew out of frustrations in the region over its marginalisation and exploitation by the central government. The war continues at a low-intensity today.

Noah Cissé, a Ziguinchor-based historian and teacher, said Sonko had shown the people of Casamance "that they are Senegalese in their own right.

They can claim power like any Senegalese." Cissé said he was hopeful that regional leaders could now persuade the government to invest in the region.