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Senegal's gas plant - 9th November 2022

Senegal has put a gas plant near its coast in Saint Louis. This could help businesses in Africa. But at the same time, it's damaging the environment.

Saint Louis is the fishing capital of Senegal. Fisherman Moustapha Dieng thinks the discovery is bad news for the fishing community. The gas plant will destroy sea life and fishing business.

Moustapha Dieng: "There is a natural reef over there. This natural reef is a very hard and very old rock. They chose to put the gas platform over there so that it would be well supported. But this rock is the habitat of all the fish, many species of fish, and practically, there are more than 3,000 pirogues, the small canoes that you see, which made their living from this area."

Although there's a climate crisis, Senegal wants to start drilling. But there's also an energy crisis. Many countries are looking for oil and gas. Senegal could be the answer for these countries.

For Sophie Gladima, drilling will provide electricity and jobs for the country. It will help Senegal develop. But Pape Fara Diallo fears that poor fishermen won't receive any of these benefits.

Pape Fara Diallo: "We feel the concerns. We see the contrast between the billions that we are told will come from the extraction of offshore gas and the poverty that you see around you."

Fishermen aren't allowed to go near the gas plant. This is pushing them to go north to find fish. But this is on the border of Mauritania and it's illegal to fish in their waters.

For Moustapha Dieng, fishing will end if they start drilling.

Moustapha Dieng: "Cohabitation is not possible. If you're extracting the gas, you are killing the fishing in Saint-Louis. Because Saint-Louis is the capital of fishing, the number of boats that there are in Saint-Louis, the types of fishing that there are in Saint-Louis, they exist nowhere else."