Living in Senegal

Senegal is one of the steadier economies on this coast, and Dakar in particular draws a fair share of regional activity. Pay runs low and tax takes a real cut, though you keep the larger part, and with costs on the low side a salary covers daily life with a small but real margin. French is the working language, English will only get you so far, and a newcomer without contacts will find hiring slow going.

Senegal is a country people leave more than they arrive in: its diaspora numbers about 741.4K, against roughly 236.4K foreign-born residents at home, and the number living abroad has grown 33% over the past decade. France anchors that diaspora with 176.6K Senegalese, followed by Gambia and Italy, while the people who do arrive come mainly from the immediate West African neighborhood — Guinea, Mauritania, and Mali.