The “Venice of Africa” is sinking into the sea
Megacities on the continent’s western coast are being swamped by rising oceans
![This aerial view shows destroyed houses along the seaside fishing neighbourhood of Guet NDar in Saint Louis, Senegal](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240629_MAP003.jpg)
It may not look like much any more, but in its heyday La Chaumière was “the premier nightclub in all Saint Louis”, recalls Cheikh Badiane. When the tide was low, the long beach extending far into the distance was wide enough for crowds to gather for football matches on the sand. But in recent years, the ageing fisherman says, “so many catastrophes have happened.” La Chaumière is closed. The Koranic school along the waterfront is no more. A few years ago, during a particularly terrible flood, a house next to a mosque collapsed, killing the carpenter who lived there. These days, when the storm-surge comes, the waters go all the way to the war memorial a couple of hundred metres inland. Inch by inch, home by home, Saint Louis is being washed into the sea.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Sunk costs”
Middle East & Africa June 29th 2024
More from Middle East and Africa
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20240720_MAP504.jpg)
The world court says Israel’s occupation is illegal
But will the International Court of Justice’s ruling have any effect?
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20240720_MAP001.jpg)
Africa’s surprising new age of rail
Sino-American tensions are playing out on the tracks
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20240720_MAP002.jpg)
The far-right has captured Israel’s police
Binyamin Netanyahu’s coalition partner is eroding the force’s independence