Senegal: Wade is most traveled worldwide


  1. Kemo Cham, AfricaNews reporter in Dakar, Senegal
    Senegalese President, Abdoulaye Wade, has been named "the greatest traveler since Alexander the Great." According to a study by Dakar-based Aid Transparency the West African president beats great leaders of today's generation even when their travel times are combined together.
    Wade, S Korea prez
    The report published in a Dakar-based daily - The Kotch - said the time traveled by presidents Carter, Bush - father and son - Clinton, Obama, Sarkozy and Chirac, Helmut Kohl and Angela Merkel, all put together, will not account for half the time that President Wade has spent traveling outside his country, after only nine years as head of state of Senegal.

    According to the report, on average the Senegalese president embarked on 37 trips per year representing at least three trips per month. This also translates that he travels outside Senegal every 10 days.

    The study which also pointed to France, the United States of America, Switzerland and Saudi Arabia as among countries frequented by the Senegalese president, made a striking contrast with an almost non-existent internal travels by the president.

    The authors of the study pointed at the cost involved in such frequency of traveling, citing hiring or maintenance of the aircraft involved, accommodation, catering for the normally larger presidential entourage that is characteristic of African leaders, not to mention the "gifts" that goes with such high profile visits overseas. These, the authors argued, could mean a lot for many lives and families in a poor African country like Senegal.

    Aid Transparency is an agency that seeks to protect aid recipients from donors. It also publicizes violations of people's rights to a fair delivery of international development.



Latest News

  1. AFCON: 46 hurt in Zambia victory celebrations09/02Over 40 casualty cases were recorded Wednesday night at Zambia's Uni…
  2. African Peer Review Mechanism making progress08/02In 2003 the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), the co…
  3. Combating HIV infections among African women08/02With a lack of knowledge and power, African women continue to bear the br…
  4. Legume cultivation booms in Western Kenya07/02Small Holder Farmers (SHFs) who traditionally relied on seed companies fo…
  5. Malawi vendors chase out Chinese07/02Vendors in Kalonga, the Northern district of Malawi, on Wednesday petitio…
  6. Zim: Informal sector urged to join HIV battle05/02While the Harare City council is busy engaging in running battles with ci…
  7. Elections: Wole Soyinka warns Mugabe, Wade03/02The Nigerian Nobel Prize winner for literature said heads of states who a…
  8. AU elections rescheduled for June in Malawi01/02Following a deadlock during Monday's African Union elections, with a…
News archive