The debate over the ownership of the Regional Express Train (Ter), brought up again in a recent article in a French newspaper, upsets President Macky Sall to the highest degree. Speaking at the opening of the Summit on the financing of infrastructure in Africa, the President of the Republic, who deplored a « permanent self-flagellation » to evoke a controversy, did not miss the detractors of his project. « While we are working for the development of our continent, you will find people who have nothing else to do but paint black, blue or whatever other colour, the efforts which must be the pride of our continent, and I am convinced that Africa should not envy anyone, » he made clear.
“We have everything it takes to make our continent the most beautiful in the world. Should our elite, and this is where the shoe pinches in Africa, be committed to the progress of the continent, and not serve as a sounding board for lost powers or for people for whom Africa will not do anything good,” he continued. According to him, what must be understood about the Ter is that it is the exclusive property of Senegal, which has recruited a company experienced in the task (Sncf) to drive, in maximum security and for the safety of passengers, this train. No question, therefore, for President Sall, that we “always come back to polemics without a future. It’s a low-level debate. » “The permanent self-flagellation: That too somewhat is holding Africa back,” he lamented.