Slave history: Senegal govt woos tourists to African renaissance monument in Dakar

Ousseynou Bissichi, Director of Operations, African Renaissance Monument in Dakar, Senegal, has called on Africans to visit the site to enrich their knowledge of slave history.
Bissichi said this on Sunday during a tour of the site by some Nigerian journalists and a few tourists as part of programmes to herald the 18th All-Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) to hold in Senegal.
He said that the monument was known as the second tallest statue across the globe after the statue of unity in Gujarat, India.
He said that the monument was 52-metres tall, located on top of one of the twin hills known as Collines des Mamelles and built outlooking the Atlantic ocean in the Quakam suburb.
According to him, the tourist site is a significant one as it accomodates some of the relics and historical facts of Africa slavery, donated by all African countries.
He said the construction of the monument was conceived by the former Senegalese President, Abdoulaye Wade, meant to symbolise the triumph of African liberation.
“The African Renaissance Monument is now known as a tourist site, it was constructed with copper by a group of North Koreans within 8 years.
“We spent $30 million for the construction of this monument, it is meant for the preservation of slave history, all African paid same prize to be liberated from the slavery.
“This monument accommodates historical relics on African slavery from countries like Rwanda, Ghana, Mali, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Angola, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon and more.
“We have the history of slave abolition peculiar with each African country, freedom fighters across Africa, black intellectuals, pan-Africanists, history of the first and second world war and lots more.
“We call on tourists across the globe to visit this place to enrich their knowledge of African slave history, it is a place for researchers as well,” he said.
According to Bissichi, the monument presents images of a man, woman and a little boy which symbolises an African family living in darkness and going into light again with the boy looking into the future with optimism. (NAN)