External Trade and Port Hierarchy in Senegal. A case of Economic Clustering in the Global Periphery (1880-1939)

Abstract

Port-cities in the Global South were key elements in the introduction of their hinterlands into the global economic trends since the last decades of the nineteenth century. In the case of Senegal, the trend is similar and it shows how the West African urban hierarchy followed the model of extroverted economic structures. The variations of the external trade of the colony remarked these urban dynamics which were tied to the development of the transport infrastructures. This paper analyzes the changes on the Senegalese port-city hierarchy between 1880 and 1939. This period accounted the consolidation of the colonial economic structures. Under these parameters, Dakar played an important role as a gateway for its hinterland.

Key words:
port-cities; imperialism; West Africa.