Chinese buses for Senegal: local jobs key to EU funding deal

“Senegalese authorities should use EU development funds to purchase Chinese buses if the deal benefits the local workforce,” said Udo Bullmann, a leading socialist member of the European Parliament.

A European tender worth over €300 million for bus supply and infrastructure in Dakar, Senegal’s capital, has sparked controversy as the contract appears likely to go to a Chinese state-linked company previously found guilty of violating EU foreign subsidy rules.

While some EU officials and lawmakers have condemned the potential award, with one calling it “madness,” Bullmann voiced support for allocating European funds to a Chinese state-linked firm provided it boosts local employment.

“The criterion is a skilled African workforce and the creation of African added value,” Bullmann stated Monday in Brussels.

Last June, during a Senegalese government visit to China, the two nations agreed to build a bus assembly plant in Senegal.

As long as the winning bidder hires local staff, the MEP said he is unconcerned about the Chinese offer.

“I don’t care,” he stated, while acknowledging he is not familiar with the specifics of the Senegalese project.

“I welcome investors who come to Africa and train the African workforce to higher standards,” he added. “That makes all the difference.”

Bullmann, who chairs the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with South Africa, is coordinating the Socialists’ Africa Days at the European Parliament this week, gathering African politicians and policymakers in Brussels. Europe is Africa’s best alternative, he argued.

“If you want exploitation, you turn to the Chinese. If you want political repression, you turn to the Americans. If you want friendship, you turn to the Europeans,” Bullmann said.

EU development chief Jozef Síkela stated in May that “measures to strengthen European preference” would be integrated into future EU development aid projects – a stance Bullmann rejects.

“We need a rule that gives preference to local production. That’s what matters most,” Bullmann asserted, adding that EU-backed tenders should prioritise African products.

Barry Andrews, chair of the European Parliament’s development committee, also said Senegalese authorities should choose the best offer for them.

“Essentially, you’re asking Senegalese people to pay twice as much,” Andrews noted, referring to the fact that CRRC’s bid is less than half that of Scania, the only European competitor in the tender.