ITC AND CODEVELOPMENT BETWEEN
CATALONIA AND SENEGAL
By Papa SOW and Rosnert Ludovic ALISSOUTIN
Abstract: Over the last years, the Information Society has been popularized thanks mainly to the
Information and Telecommunications Techologies-ITC. The effect and the impact of the ITC surpasses
territorial borders
(Not to mention transnational ones) increasing with the multiple socioeconomical interexchanges of
information. The countries of reception like those of origin of the migrants have become zones of intense
exchanges of information between families remaining in the home country and the "Diaspora" living
abroad. From interviews and multiple observations, this article seeks to demonstrate how the Mobile
phone and the e-mail can, by encouraging a nonstop codevelopment, represent tools of political and
socioeconomical transformations in the places of origin par excellence. Thanks to these tools, there are
regular exchanges of information between immigrants settled in Spain and their "counterparts" based in
Senegal. The article aims to highlight the "instrumental" function that the mobile phone and the e-mail
can play in the remote microcoordination of codevelopment through interexchanges of information,
testimonies and perceptions. The need to access ITC, on behalf of the immigrants, could be useful for a
better insertion and permanent contact with the country of origin. Consequently through codevelopment,
the ITC can bring about the succesful implementation of important resources and economic growth in the
home countries. Thanks to the ITC, the basis of accumulation and distribution of the resources can be
reinterpreted in a different way.
Keywords: Information Society, Spain, Catalonia, Mobile Phone, Email, Senegalese, Culture of link,
Distance Relations, Codevelopment, Senegal.

The French version of this article has been already published in 2009 in the book Communication Technologies in
Latin America and Africa: A multidisciplinary perspective (Mireia Fernández-Ardèvol and Adela Ros Híjar, edition,
IN3 and MNS), Section 3: Shaping migratory cultures, Chapter 12, pp. 319-342.

Marie Curie Research Fellow, Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations, University of Warwick, UK. E-mail:
P.Sow@warwick.ac.uk or investigation4@yahoo.fr For more information about Dr. Papa Sow and his works, see
his webpage: http://www.papasow-online.info/

Professor and Associate Researcher URF of Law University Gaston Berger Saint Louis Senegal. E-mail:
grefroska@hotmail.com For more information about Dr. Rosnert Ludovic Alissoutin and his works, see his webpage:
http://www.ralissoutin.com/
1
BACKGROUND
Senegal has one of the most significant densities of mobile telephony in Africa.
According to the data of ITU (2008), the ratio of cell subscribers in relation to the
landline was 22, 7 % and 8, 35 % of the population have used the Internet. The turn of
the century saw the publication of inportant literature on Senegalese ITCs (Guéye,
2002; Tall, 2002; Thioune, 2003; Diop, 2003; Guignard, 2004; Cheneau-Loquay, 2004
and 2005; Guéye, 2004, Mbarika and al. 2005).
Nowadays, there are 4.389.133 holders of SIM cards and subscribers to the mobile
telephony system regulated by the National Telecommunication Company - SONATEL
(ARTP, 20091). That is to say a little more than half of the Senegalese and foreign
citizens registered on the national electoral file. The country has an important
organization - UNETTS - National Union of the Holders of Telecentres and Telephones
of Senegal – which, in 2009 gathered together the holders of telecentres exceeding more
than 5.500 members (ARTP, 2009:6). Three big Companies ORANGE, TIGO and
EXPRESSO at present dominate the lucrative ITC market of the country with
telecommunications accounting for 8% of the economy’s national growth. According to
some specialists, the ITC sector is has a faster growth rate than the traditional sectors
(Agriculture, Fishing, Tourism, etc.).
The competition in which, the national and international network providers are engaged
has had a direct impact on the consumption and services deriving from the mobile
telephony, leading to an inrease in price competiveness making calls abroad cheaper.
The minimum price of the prepaid cards is only 1000 FCFA, about 1 euro 50 cents. In
addition to these prices, it is even possible to share the prepaid cards, which in Wolof
are called sèddo, a special formulae and offer made by the network providers. At
present, the sèddo system has practically replaced the Telecentres. The system and the
costs of communication have become more and more accessibe to the extent that the
huge number of costumers obliged the SONATEL system, through its PNN - National Plan of
Numbering - which is regulated by the ARTP - Agency of Regulation of Telecommunications
and the Post offices, from October 7th 2007 to add 7 figures to the mobile telephony as well as
the landlines which now have 9 figures2. The figures speak for themselves, revealing that the
gap which exists between the mobile phone users and those subscribed to the landlines is very
high. Internet: everywhere for everyone. Already a reality is the new slogan of SONATEL
which at the end of 2009 sold the Internet connection at relatively very low prices. In the same
year, SONATEL provided Internet to more than 40.000 users (ARTP, 2009:13)
Migrations, ITC and development
The relations between migratory flows and networks of communication have changed
drastically over the last years. In only ten years, communications have gone through a
boom and acceleration never seen before. This article about the relation between
migrations, ITC and codevelopment is an illustrative example of what Portes (1999)
called the "globalization in below". The capacity of African immigrants generally to
develop strategies, far from their country of origin, entering fully in distance relations
while mobilizing strong social connections has led to the emergence of a new
phenomenon in the heart of the Information Society.
1
See ARTP report, 2009 (p.9):
http://www.artpsenegal.org/telecharger/document_Rapport_annuel_2008_301.pdf
2
See Rewmi Newspapers of June 2nd 2007, read the article: “The telephone passes of 9 figures in October,
reminds the ARTP”.
2
There is a strong competition between network providers which offer lower prices and
the development of the remittances for the migrants. With mobile phone and e-mails, it
is possible to make tied contacts with counterparts (often the family, close
acquaintances, etc.) and codevelopment partners. This kind of "virtual cultural link" has
become visible and very dynamic with the high usage of ITC by migrants. This situation
is in fact likely to strengthen the role of the Diaspora3 in the development of the places
of origin. This should allow researchers to investigate the cognitive dimension of this
new issue. Indeed, a virtual link exists between the connectivity deriving from mobile
phones and e-mails, the development of being part of a big "diasporic community" and
the commitment of the immigrants towards their places of origin.
Besides, the fact of being capable of representing the new dynamics of transnational
mobilization of the migration gives consistency to the discourse on the globalization,
the multiculturalism and the "end" of the distance management of social relationships.
As such, this article tries to encourage a critical discussion on a vision of
codevelopment from the understanding of the technological relations which exist
between mobility and development. The immigrant is a person who is at the same time
here and there, connected to his/her history, friends, to and networks. Such
contemplation may lead to a new theoretical framework which regards the relations
between the country of origin and the settlement country not only in terms of
remittances, skills and knowledges but also in terms of codevelopment here and there or
between here and there. The communication systems between these actors are hypermediatized and increased thanks to mobile phones and e-mails, tools which are today
the most easily accessible and easy to handle. This simultaneous communication, while
appealing to a strong sense of being member of a "diasporic community" tends to
capitilise on, mobilize and articulate local and distant skills and aquaintances. It also
helps in the speedy drafting of, often very worthwhile projects of public interest, in the
places of origin. It is important to realise however that if the "culture of the virtual link”
is at present most visible and most dynamic because of ITC, particularly through mobile
phones and e-mails, it does not explain the same “link culture”.
Use of the ITC by the immigrants settled in Catalonia
The Senegalese community living in Catalonia is one of the most representatives in
terms of the volume of persons4 from the so called "sub-Saharan" Africa. With the
policies of family regrouping and settlement, certain immigrants have been joined by
their families. So, a dynamic Senegalese community has grown and there are now
intense networks of relations being woven between Catalonia and the country of origin.
In the main, these networks have become possible thanks to the various information
exchanges and the multiple channels of communication by which they have developed.
3
The African Union defined the "African Diaspora" as: “[consisting] of people of African origin living
outside the continent, irrespective of their citizenship, or nationality and who are willing to contribute of
the development of the continent and the building of African Union”. See report of the expert meeting on
the definition of African Diaspora : http://www.africa-union.org/organs/ecossoc/Report-ExpertDiaspora%20Defn%2013april2005-Clean%20copy1.doc Over the last years, the United Nations Task
Force launched an initiative which aims to gather immigrants of the Diaspora qualified in a vast network
of promotion for the development of the ICT in their home country. The initiative is known under the
name of Digital Diaspora Network and it aims to promote the Objectives of the Millennium Challenge.
For more details, see: http://www.unicttaskforce.org/stakeholders/ddn .html
4
At the end of 2007, the population of the Senegalese was estimated at 15.307 individuals according to
data supplied by the Secretariat for the Immigration of the Catalan government. To draft this article, the
authors have conducted in depth surveys with immigrants in Catalonia. Observations and interviews have
3
One of the most important channels is represented by the ICT and particularly the
technologies of banking (via the remittances) and the telephony (landline and mobile).
The remittances which are often sent are intended either to help the family remaining in
the country or to realize development projects. Most are made through banks.The oldest
and most frequently used banking and system channels include among others the
convoyages5 and the International banks: Western Union, Money Gram, Money express,
Money Exchange, and the mobile phone operators.
Although the African migrants remittances market, toward Sub Saharan Africa, remains
predomminantly Senegelese, over the last years we also have noted the active presence
of certain Spanish banks such as Banco Santander Central Hispano BSCH-, Banco
Popular, Caixa Catalunya, "La Caixa", Banesto, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya ArgentariaBBVA-, Bancaja, to name but a few6. In Catalonia, the banking transfer services (via
ITC) offered to immigrants generally and to Senegalese in particular are diverse and
varied. "La Caixa", one of the leading business banks in Catalonia, to cite one example,
has put at the disposal of immigrants a service called Nous Residents and wants to target
many nationalities7. The services offered include: transfers, opening of step or saving
accounts, loans mortgages for acquiring a house in the country of origin, savings and
offers of renting, life insurance, e-commerce, remittance cards, etc.
The discourses of the "sociologists of immigration" have often focused on the
remittances without sufficient regard for the use which the migrants make of phones and
the e-mails. Nevertheless, an open access to information can avoid the marginalization
of the immigrants and allow them to make up-to-date choices in order to improve their
livelihood and well-being. The revolution in telephony (and especially the mobile
phone) and the exchanges of e-mails have strongly contributed to spreading information
more widely and to a sharing of knowledge. In the "Immigrant communities" (and
particularly among the Senegalese who are the object of this study) the mobile phone
and e-mails allow them to reduce their social and spatial isolation, as well as the
obstacles which they often face. The lack of information about immigrant networks and
their channels of information and communication built up through the mobile phone, for
example, limit the knowledge which the settlement societies have of them. In spite of
the immigrants' strong presence in that part of Spain and the big infrastructure of
telecommunications which covers Catalonia, there are very few in-depth studies on the
relationship between immigration8 and ITC (Ros and al. 2007). In Spain, until now,
also been realized with Senegalese technicians who have a specialist knowledge of the theme and
established in Dakar
5
It is the fact of sending remittances through an "informal" friendly network without paying any
commission. It is necessary to point out that during the year of 2006 only, the immigrants established in
Spain sent officially around 6.800 million euros to their countries of origin [See the South American
Newspapers: La Voz de Nuestra Comunidad of November 16th , 2008, on page 16].
6
From this long list, we shall quote: Telegiros, Giroexpress S.A, Envia Telecomunicaciones S.A,
Quisqueyana Iberia, Inc., Ungiros Internacional, S.A, Save Money Transfer Spain, Inc., etc. It is also
necessary to take into account the call-centers, called in Spain locutorios, which operate both at telephony
and remittances levels.
7
Financial services offered to the immigrants by "La Caixa" can be consulted on the following Internet
pages: http://portal.lacaixa.es/extranjeros/extranjeros_es.html See also the Integra program on the web
page: http://www.integratexxi.es/
4
every year, a survey is carried out on equipments and the use of ITC in households.
According to the National Institute of Statistics of Spain, in 2009 more than 67 % of
foreigners used the Internet in their homes (INE, 2009: 5). In most of the existing
studies, the methodological limitations often complicate the interpretation of the results.
The comparison between the native and the immigrant population is often very
complex. Researchers are still not interested in the differences of attitudes between
immigrants who use the ITC and even less so on preferences and technological tastes in
the context of immigration. Through tools such as the mobile phone and e-mails which
have now become indispensable in the countries of destination, immigrants manage to
maintain family links and a distant cooperation in an immediate way. Moreover, most of
these migrants, often by being at the origin of the setting-up of the cell phones their own
places of origin have became the anonymous bearers of the local development message
in remote regions and households. By establishing a strong “culture of link” through the
mobile phone and the e-mails, the migrants succeed in maintaining their distance logics.
They activate everyday connections which are similar to closed relationships which can
stand from expression of feelings to distance control.
The mobile phone and the e-mail objects of cultural and social
construction
The mobile phone represents a tool which can help increase the capacity of
memorization. By upsetting the connections, it has introduced new behaviours, modes
of expressions and representations which impact more and more on a large number of
people. Contrary to its technical vocation, the cell phone is becoming a culturally and
socially constructed object, whose dynamics particularly within the framework of
interexchanges raises an array of questions. The mobile often remains the reflection in
action of the realities which it represents. The current "anthropology of the mobile
telephony" for a long time centering on techniques or the history of communication
tools, reveals that research has evolved litttle. A methodology appropriate for the
mobile and e-mail in close relationship with the issue of the emigration remains to be
established.
Lately, some sociologists and anthropologists (Beaudouin et Velkovska, 1999; Anis,
2000; Castells, et al. 2005; Horst et Miller, 2006; Smith, 2007) have tried to rehabilitate
the social utility of the mobile phone and the e-mails in social sciences. Their numerous
works show the development of an innovative field of research where the cell phone and
the email appear as tools of full investigation in order to understand the contemporary
Information Society. The mobile phone and e-mails offer researchers from the various
disciplines the possibility of observing an exchange of views rich in meanings through
the effects which they infer and the discourses (voiced or written) which are produced.
The possibility of analyzing the discourses and of producing new interpretations can
represent a new field of research. Moreover, the variety of disciplinary entries of recent
works (Horst and Miller, 2006; Agar, 2003) devoted to the mobile phone and to the
back home immigrant places, as well as they recover from the public or private sector,
demonstrates the richness of an object of research which lends itself as much to an
economic or sociological analysis as to a study of territories and uses. The analysis of
the representations and the use of the mobile phone in immigrant background often
8
At the Spanish State level, it is necessary to note the report of Fundación Telefónica in 2006 on Los
medios of comunicación in the experiencia migratoria latinoamericana which can be checked on the
following
link:
http://www.fundacion.telefonica.com/publicacio
nes/pdf/
Los_medios_de_comunicacion_en_l a_exp a.pdf In Catalonia very few studies have been done on this
thematic.
5
stand out from the ambiguity. There is indeed a social construction around a
technological tool (the mobile phone) which is a bearer of modernity, of discourse, of
social representations and collective myths and which make the user acts (Harper, 2001
and 2003; Katz et al. 2002; Ling, 2004; Castells et al. 2005). In the countries of
immigration as well as in those of origin, the mobile phone sometimes remains a tool
with which, space, time, status, equipment, personality, etc…contribute to the
construction of a discourse (Mbow and Tamba, 2007). In general, access to the
communication services and to the mobile phone in particular was widely recognized as
an important contribution towards the development of the country of origin and
especially for those of African migrants (Chéneau-Loquay, 2005). Often even in the
places of origin, the level of penetration of the mobile phone has increased in an
exponential way. We thus have to deal with emigrants or "candidates for emigration"
already widely sentisised to the novelties of mobile telephony and its practical use.
The Senegalese immigrants, ITC and the Codevelopment at
distance
This article is based on an exploratory analysis of the practices of codevelopment (Naïr,
1997; Riccio and Grillo, 2003; Aumüller, 2004; Ostergaard-Nielsen, 2007; Fauser,
2007) in operation via mobile phones and e-mails by Senegalese immigrants between
Catalonia and Senegal. The analysis takes into account a certain number of elements
emanating from the results of participatory observations and interviews which show in
addition to the crossover between the “culture of link”, the relations at a distance
(codevelopment) and the dynamics of transnational mobilization. The "culture of the
mobile phone" is not a recent one among the Senegalese immigrant community. Many
interviewed immigrants give the impression that they have possessed o mobile phone
for several years. Their everyday actions are thus completely registered in a particular
context of the "Information Society". The mobile phone represents a basic tool for an
indispensable connection between the immigrants and their country of origin. It reflects
a relation of continuous communication in time. As a tool, it shortens the distances
between the settlement country and that of origin thanks to their ability to create
strategies of implication in the daily life in both or several places.
The mobile phone manages to represent simultaneously an individual tool and
interpersonal, “communitarian” communication used more and more frequently,
allowing constraints in the material infrastructure to be overcome. The mobile phone
stood out as the simplest and most economic way to do so. Its impact was immediate in
the Senegalese community and became more and more accessible in terms of cost and
even availability. Powerful companies such as Movistar and Vodafone have already
assumed a prominent position in the Catalan-Spanish market and have also targeted
immigrants. More than half of those interviewed said they were with the Movistar
Company the remainders were with Vodafone and Amena/Orange. More than the
quality of the services, it is often the affordable prices which attract the immigrant
costumers. Many people affirmed to being subscribed to two companies at the same
time for reasons of economy rates, work and family.
Until very recently, “to codevelop” or even communicate with a country of origin were
not considered easy because of the heavy costs (Post, fax, telephone, etc.) incurred by
the immigrants. Amongst the difficulties presented in this this sector, we can quote the
ineffectiveness of postal correspondence, which is in the main irreguar and oldfashioned; the non-existence of communication which often creates a considerable loss
in the spreading and the follow-up of information. Worse still, the deficient
6
infrastructures in the places of origin (often in very remote villages far from Senegalese
big city centers) were, for a long time, one of the biggest obstacles to the speed of
distribution of information. The lack of communications was for a long time a
contributory factor causing blockage and disorganisation in the transmission of
information. Often the immigrants did not manage to meet deadlines, nor did their
counterparts, in their places of origin, succeed in honoring their commitments towards
the beneficiaries of the codevelopment projects. The introduction and use of mobile
phones have already had a remarkable impact notable in the level of daily practices of
codevelopment and improvement of the management and control of information in the
places of origin.
Managing the projects of codevelopment at distance through
the e-mail and cell phones
The management and follow-up on an assembly line of individual codevelopment
projects and often even “collective” projects, reveal the important and innovative role
which the mobile and email play in the daily "construction" and preservation of links
with the places of origin. There is a strong sociability through an intense network which
has as a starting and returning point these tools which are capable of making and
unmaking the links and relations of solidarity. The mobile and e-mail represent for
Senegalese immigrants (and their Catalan countpartners) not only objects of mediation
and preservation of the emotional link with the country of origin, but also tools which
convey the information and the situations of how people live from day to day in
Senegal. Because the level of training to manage the mobile or email presents little
handicap, it does not represent an obstacle when bulding up a network of social
relationships within the community, the places of origin and especially the Diaspora.
This is demonstrated with one of the first e-mails of the ATZUCAC9 organization
(based in Catalonia) sent to Ndoyéne (Senegal), its Senegalese counterpart within the
framework of a project dealing with rural electrification:
----- Message d'origine ---De : Atzucac Senegal <ndoyene2005@
À : aziz2004@; Thieka@
Envoyé le : Mercredi, 14 Septembre 2005, 7h49mn 47s
Objet: Projet ndoyéne
« (…) Comme nous avons accordé pendant notre séjour à Ndoyéne, notre effort sera destiné à chercher des aides
publiques ou d’autres ressources pour amener l’électricité jusqu’à Ndoyéne. Comme nous vous avons écrit dans
le dernier message, nous avons déjà commencé à traduire un schéma d’un projet et nous allons vous l’envoyer très
vite. Comme vous pouvez voir nous avons créé une adresse électronique exclusive pour notre communication et
pour le projet. (ndoyene2005@). Nous espérons que tout ira bien à Ndoyéne. Donnez des salutations à tout le
monde.
ATZUCAC
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
It is because neither the immigrants nor their counterparts in the countries of origin have
the means of managing long and expensive calls between their homes and the country
of setlement that they use e-mails; they do not want to spend a lot of money as the costs
are very high. On a social level, the practice of e-mails has a double meaning. First of
all, it denotes the financial precariousness which exists in the places of origin which
often manage to mobilize resources to communicate perfectly, by phone, because the
9
Special permission was asked from the President of ATZUCAC for the publication of a part of the
emails of that organization in this article. Access to these emails was posible because the authors of the
article are at the time members and co-workers of GERAFRICA, an organization which has also fully
participated into the decision-making of the project. Consequently, they received all the emails in the
same way as the other partners.
7
costs are exaggerated. Secondly, it acts like a social defect which shows how the
immigrants living in the “North" master and dominate the communication relationships
with their counterparts in the places of origin. This imbalance of "communicating
vessels" underlies once again the thesis of “communication dependence” which makes
the North a zone, por excellance of control of technology and the South, as one lacking
the necessary structures. Consequently where the prices of the telephone and the
Internet remain very high.Which is not always true with a country like Senegal.
Thanks to the e-mails, it is possible for "counterparts" to communicate on a daily basis
to take part in the initiatives and to draft "together” the projects. In the same way, it is
possible to improve the quality of the actions of codevelopment. The information
channel, as well as the management of resources in the local place can be controlled
very closely:
----- Message d'origine ---De : Atzucac Senegal <ndoyene2005@
À : Ziza2004@; Thieka@
Envoyé le : Lundi, 26 Septembre 2005, 7h55mn 59s
Objet : projet
Bonjour!
Ça y est! Nous avons déjà fini de traduire le schéma de projet que nous avions trouvé. Il est un peu long et très
détaillé, mais on croit que c'est mieux de le rédiger le plus spécifiquement possible et après nous adapterons le texte
aux différents formats.
Si vous ne comprenez pas quelque part, n'hésitez pas de nous écrire. Dès que vous aurez écrit le projet, on va
le traduire en catalan et voir où est-ce que nous pouvons le présenter. On a déjà trouvé quelques possibilités de
financement, mais on verra quand on aura le projet.
Vous verrez qu'en plus du projet, il faut y ajouter le budget de la SENELEC la Société Nationale d’Électricité et le
financement que vous pouvez trouver au Sénégal. On souhaite que tout aille bien à Ndoyéne!
À bientôt
ATZUCAC
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
As we can see, on both sides, the exchanges, follow-up and tasks are shared. The
Senegalese counterpart is the one who receives the "scheme" of the project, exploits it,
drafts it and sends it back to the Catalan counterparts who search for “funding
possibilities". There is a wider flexibility in the relationship with the counterparts in the
development of the project, at every level, as this e-mail correspondence from
ATZUCAC to their Senegalese counterparts below shows:
----- Message d'origine ---De : Marrera@
À : Musaa63@
Cc : Ziza2004@
Envoyé le : Samedi, 27 Janvier 2007, 17h12mn 37s
Objet : Projet Electrification Ndoyéne
Bonjour,
Comme nous vous avions déjà informé, en décembre on a déposé le projet d'électrification de Ndoyéne au Fons
Català de la Cooperació, avec les nouvelles informations que nous vous avions envoyées, pour essayer d'avoir la
subvention et pouvoir avoir le financement supplémentaire lequel nous avons besoin pour faire la première partie
du projet. Nous attendons la réponse, mais il est probable qu'elle arrive au mois de mai. Dès qu'on aura des nouvelles,
on vous tiendra au courant.
Pour l'instant, on va commencer à travailler à la phase suivante du projet : trouver les subventions et préparer la
deuxième phase. Au même temps, on va travailler sur différentes campagnes de diffusion du projet ici à Barcelone,
car c'est aussi un travail nécessaire et indispensable pour notre association.
On espère que tout va bien à Ndoyéne.
ATZUCAC
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
8
The "hope" of succeeding in getting fundings from the Catalan donators represents a
strong motivation for the Senegalese "counterparts". In June and September, 2007, two
letters which speak about a strong commitment to spread the project, initially intended
for a single village, to the several other villages are sent from Ndoyéne (by e-mail and
in attached Word version). The letters show the willingness of the populations to create
a stronger and more dynamic organization which will take into account more sensivitiy.
A social participation is then started, doubled by an intensification of the institutional
capabilities. They insist on the legalization of the organization and their "commitment
without defect" to work together while taking into account their own “strengths" and on
those "of person resources and the authorities":
Ndoyéne, le 25 juin 2007
A Monsieur le Coordinateur
d’ATZUCAC - Barcelone - Espagne
Vos réf : fax du 19.06.07
Nos réf : 001/07
Objet : Electrification village Ndoyéne
Monsieur le Coordinateur,
Suite à nos différents entretiens téléphoniques et correspondances et après examen de la situation, nous
avons décidé de la création d’une association regroupant tous les six villages de Ndoyéne. L’assemblée générale
constitutive s’est tenue le mardi 19 juin 2007, un bureau a été adopté à l’unanimité. Une demande de
reconnaissance a été déposé au niveau du Ministère de l’intérieur, nous attendons dans les plus brefs délais le
récépissé pour ouvrir un compte bancaire au nom de l’association, par conséquent la subvention que vous
devez nous envoyez, sera viré dans ce compte. Soyez persuadés que nous ne ménagerons aucun effort de
l’utilisation dans la plus grande transparence de cet argent. Dorénavant tout se fera dans le cadre de cette structure.
Pour l’électrification du village de Ndoyéne, nous sommes en discussion très avancée avec la
SENELEC, pas plus tard que samedi 23.06.07 une équipe de techniciens étaient sur le terrain suivie d’une réunion
avec le nouveau bureau. Par conséquent, les populations et par le sens civique de certaines personnes ressources,
se sont engagées à mettre en œuvre tous les moyens nécessaires particulièrement financiers pour la réalisation de
ce projet, une réunion sera tenu aujourd’hui pour fixer les cotisations en attendant le devis définitif de la SENELEC.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ndoyéne le 25 septembre 2007
A
Monsieur LEIMEN
Président d’ATZUCAC - Barcelone
Vos réf : fax 17.09.07
Nos réf : 06/07
Objet : Electrification des villages de Ndoyéne.
Monsieur le Président,
L’association villageoise Ndoyéne légalement constituée, a pour but de donner à ces villages des
infrastructures fonctionnelles, des conditions d’hygiène et de sécurité optimale.
Nous vous réitérons notre engagement sans faille à œuvrer avec l’association que vous avez l’honneur de
diriger et vos partenaires, la réalisation de tous les projets pour le développement économique et social des villages de
Ndoyéne.
Pour le projet d’électrification, nous sommes conscients que nous devons compter sur nos propres forces d’abord,
raison pour la quelle nous avons entamé des démarches depuis quelles semaines auprès de certaines personnes
ressources et autorités, avec les derniers développements que nous avons enregistrer auprès de ceux ci, l’espoir est
permis.
To dissect the e-mails, we realize that almost all were written and sent after both
counterparts had exchanged some "phone conversation", as the e-mail correspondence
quoted above shows. Next to the relationship networks which they build up themselves,
there are combinations or dynamic alternations of phone conversations and exchanges
of e-mails. Combinations (call/e-mail) complement each other and seeming alternate in
9
time and space which creates an idea of a perpetual dynamic of transnational
mobilization. The information is constantly channelled according to a scheme alternated
by sets of phone calls followed by e-mail messages and often even by SMS or calls
from prepaid cards (like Llama África, etc.). Several dissected e-mails show this
exchange:
----- Message d'origine ---De : Marrera @
À : Mam@; Awach@; GERA@
Cc : infoatzucac@; Lemein@; Gerro@
Envoyé le : Mercredi, 17 Octobre 2007, 8h27mn 29s
Objet : trucades
Hola Awach/Gera/Mam,
Com va tot?
Us volíem comentar un parell de coses en relació a les trucades que vam fer l'altre dia al Senegal (...).
Ahir vam estar parlant amb el Lemein de tots aquests temes, i pensem que potser hauríem de fer una nova ronda
de trucades per agilitzar el tema, aquest cap de setmana o la setmana vinent... ja en parlarem.
Esperem notícies vostres.
Gràcies,
Marrera i Gerro
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
----- Message d'origine ---De : Lemein@
À : GERA@; Marrera@
Cc : Mam@; Awach@; infoatzucac@; Gerro@
Envoyé le : Mercredi, 17 Octobre 2007, 13h25mn 43s
Objet : RE: Re : trucades
RESUM DE LA REUNIÓ
Primer vam trucar al tinent alcalde i membre del comitè de pilotatge. Ens va confirmar que:
- Nosaltres (Atzucac/Geràfrica) no podem fer un contracte directament amb la Senelec, ja que es tracta d'una empresa
pública. El contracte hauria de ser entre l'ajuntament i la Senelec. Després nosaltres ja faríem un contracte amb
l'ajuntament o un conveni amb totes les parts implicades (…).
Vam trucar a l'oncle del Awach i a l'Ziza:
- Ens van confirmar que l'ajuntament tenia els 11.000.000 i que el poble podia aconseguir els 7.000.000. (…)
Vam trucar a un parell de la Senelec per preguntar els procediments per a portar llum a un poble. Ens van
confirmar les 2 vies:
- Que l'ajuntament signi un contracte amb la Senelec
- Que l'associació que prota llum a zones rurals faci l'electrificació i la Senelec ho supervisi. (…)
Vam trucar al "tio del correu"
(…). Li vam dir que nosaltres seguiríem com fins ara treballant amb l'ajuntament i el comitè de pilotatge. Ell va estarhi d'acord.
Suposo que m'oblido de coses, però crec que hi ha bastant del que vam dir... si algú dels que hi èrem vol afegir o
corregir alguna cosa, ja sap...
Ens veiem!!
ATZUCAC
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
----- Message d'origine ---De : Gerro@
À : Awach@; GERA@
Envoyé le : Dimanche, 28 Octobre 2007, 23h27mn 27s
Objet : missatge per Diamala
Hola,
Al final la Mari no pot traduir aquest missatge perque està molt liada de feina... podeu traduir-lo? Hem quedat amb
el noi per telèfon que li enviàvem dilluns. Si voleu, torneume'l traduït i li envio
Gerro
Sr. Diamala,
Li enviem aquest missatge des de l'associació Atzucac-Geràfrica (Barcelona), segons la conversa telefònica
mantinguda amb vostè el diumenge 28 d'octubre.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
----- Message d'origine ---De : Lemein@
10
À : GERA@
Envoyé le : Lundi, 29 Octobre 2007, 9h31mn 33s
Objet : RE: Re : missatge per Diamala
Hola GERA,
Moltes gràcies per la traducció. Aquí t'envio més feina... abans de res, t'explico una mica.
Aquesta setmana hem rebut una carta dels finançadors en la que ens diuen que ens avancen una part dels diners i que
ens allarguen el termini per presentar la justificació fins el mes de desembre. Tot i això, creiem que és molt just per
poder tenir-ho acabat llavors. Vam decidir de trucar a Ndoyene per saber l'estat dels convenis i per preguntar a
la SENELEC si veien possible tenir acabades les obres pel desembre. Vam anar amb el Awach i un altre noi de
GERÀFRICA que és de Senegal.
Vam poder parlar amb el Diamala, de la SENELEC, que ens va demanar el pressupost que va fer la SENELEC per
tal de poder contestar les nostres preguntes (li enviarem el correu que tu mateix has traduit).
Per altra banda el Awach va trucar a l'ajuntament i al seu oncle. Li van donar informació nova i contradictòria,
que més que aclarir-nos ens ha portat més confusió. Per això et demanaríem si poguessis trucar aquesta setmana a
l'ajuntament per aclarir els dubtes (si vols comprar una targeta Llama África o si vols anar a un locutori després
t'ho paguem).
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
----- Message d'origine ---De : GERA@
À : Infoatzucac@
Cc : Gerro@; Lemein@; Awach@; GERA@; Marrera@; Yal7@; Mam@
Envoyé le : Samedi, 3 Novembre 2007, 22h17mn 20s
Objet : Re : Noticias de Ndoyéne
Hola a todos y todas,
Ayer Awach y yo hemos hablado, por teléfono, con gente de Senegal para el proyecto Ndoyéne. Abajo resumimos
las últimas noticias:
-Con Diamala: Tuvimos una larga conversación. (…).
-Con el Ayuntamiento Diamniadio, también hemos hablado con el Sr. Yuda. Sigue diciendo que el Ayuntamiento
respectará su compromiso. (…).
-Con Diombor (el señor de Dakar), hemos intentado varias veces hablar con él. Pero no pudimos. Yo lo quiero
personalmente enviar un e-mail hoy a ver.
Con todo eso, creo que es mejor esperar unos días más a ver claro sobre la situación...
Saludos,
GERA
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: Gerro@
To: Awach@; Iramlab@; Lemein@; Vasa@; GERA@; Marrera@; Lito@; Serri8@
Subject: Trucades Senegal i convocatòria reunió (llegiu fins al final!)
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:53:40 +0100
Hola a tots/es,
Us passo a fer un resum de les trucades que hem fet avui, 20/11/2007, al Senegal (Awach, Lemein, Gerro). Hem
parlat amb el tio de l'Ajuntament i amb el Diombor. (…).
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Message d'origine ---De : ndoyene_villages@
À : Infoatzucac@; GERA@
Envoyé le : Lundi, 3 Décembre 2007, 10h45mn 28s
Objet : Electrification Ndoyéne
Bonjour chers amis et partenaires
Suite à notre entretien téléphonique interrompu, si vous voulez des informations complémentaires vous pouvez
me les envoyez par mail je vous répondrais dans les minutes qui suivent.
Merci bonne réception à bientôt Incha Allah.
NDiombor
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
As we can see, the Senegalese immigrants tend to label their action of codevelopment in
a particular context of "Information Society". They are often bearers of modernity in a
particular social situation marked by being members of a specific cultural community.
ICT (especially the email and the cell phone) allow them to manage codevelopment at
distance, which can however entail a certain number of modifications in their behaviour.
Certain elements derived from these modifications henceforth are to be taken into
11
account: the rhythm and control of the work, the widened responsibilities, technological
equipments and rules of use, etc. In the same way, this management at a distance allows
for an improvement in the quality of the actions of codevelopment, the covering of
social needs, the insertion of the poorest in the economic context, a greater social
implication and an intensification of the institutional capabilities. The information
channel and management of the knowledge at a distance through effective instruments
(e-mails and cell phone) can also be interpreted as a contribution to the process of the
"modernization" of the system of codevelopment which, for a long time, has suffered
from certain lethargy.
Conclusion
In spite of the fact that Africa still remains marginalized in the distribution of most of
the technological infrastructures of the world, African immigrants tend to manage to
overcome this “digital divide” by being equipped with effective means to communicate
and to exchange information. Cell phones and e-mails represent illustrative examples
which have experienced an unprecedented development nowadays; their flexibility is an
asset (Marín Bellón, 2007). They are particularly valued where the wired networks and
the "traditional" communication are obsolete (Nyamba, on 2005). Culturally speaking
and as far as the mobile phone is concerned as Lilti (2003) expresses so well:
« (…) le succès du cellulaire peut s’expliquer par la simplicité de la technique au niveau de l’usager, par
le caractère oral de la communication, accessible aux analphabètes et par sa nature d’échange immédiat
qui permet de donner des informations et d’en recevoir directement de son interlocuteur, ce qui au-delà de
son efficacité confère une certaine chaleur humaine à la relation».
The Senegalese immigrants settled in Catalonia came from a country which in spite of
the “technological divide” possesses one of the highest densities of mobile telephony in
Africa.
Between Catalonia and Senegal, there are now intense communicational exchanges
thanks to the immigrants. For a long time, the Social Sciences were not interested in the
differences of attitudes between the immigrants as ITC users, even less in the
preferences and technological tastes in the context of immigration. It is thanks to the
cell phones and exchanges of e-mails that they often manage to maintain family links
and codevelopment at a distance. Bearers of modernity, the Senegalese immigrants have
also become anonymous actors of local codevelopment, in regions and households
marked with a significant lack of communications. Creating a “virtual culture”, the
immigrants have succeeded in activating and maintaining every day relationships and
follow up of actions at a distance which are similar to connections of closeness. The cell
phone, for example, is an opportunity to show observations of behaviours, in terms of
management of the costs, the impact on social relationships and the reconfiguration of
their communication. It remains, for them, more than just the important potential which
it represents, a good example of succesful development in the sense of an appropriation
by the largest number. It is true that the cell phone does not always play a positive role
in the social interactions. There is thus real power relationships built up around the
cellular. They sometimes come along with subtle strategies, often “clientelists”, with
control of the roles and feelings (Mfou'ou, on 2005).
ICT can not only participate in the valuation of the discourse of the researchers, but
also in the collection of data. The discourse engendered by the cellular, for example, is
polysemous, and the sense which we attribute to it is the result of a construction which
is not conventional and universal. So in the context of immigration for example, the
12
expression of the various interpretations of a discourse coming from a cellular reveals
the variety of opinions produced by the diversity of social and personal trajectories for
each immigrant. The cell phone and emails often allow for a better understanding of the
social realities observed in context of immigration. They can also become supports of
anthropological discourse. This is only possible because of the fact that they allow a
vocal or written passing on of words which can influence or not, the taking or changing
of decisions of the parties involved. While the mobile records and is an invisible witness
of the reality, it also sometimes manages to modify the behaviour of the persons who
use it. It is not any more this tool, for a long time considered as a technological
superiority of the West and which often has been referred wrongly to be incapable to
identify the sociological object itself. It proves nevertheless the ethnological object
represented in various forms and seems to be epistemologically a real category of
thought and a mode of knowledge of the social life. The use of the mobile phone and
the email remain a strongly descriptive representation of the immigrants themselves as
these tools are highly modeled in their movement. To speak through the mobile phone
for example, everything is gestural; everything is movement and which means that it is
the demonstration in public or private of actions and expressions wherever they take
place. The mobile creates at the same time a communication and socialization which
fully participate in a set of locatable distance through movements and words. There is a
kind of process, produced by techniques, actions and movements which fully fit into a
social interaction while constituting a mode of particular representation anchored in the
practices and social connections. For the immigrant who detains it represents a constant
construction of a personality of oneself and a way of perceiving and of representing
others through an effective tool.
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