From 1865 to 1929, the year of the Great Depression, the city of Rufisque played an important role in the development of the region during the colonial period. Rufisque was the scene of various significant industrial and commercial activities, hosting European trading posts and companies such as the Société des Huileries et Rizeries de l'Ouest Africain (SHROA) in 1926 with an oil mill, the Nosal company in 1949 in the form of a limited liability company (SARL), which specialized in forestry, the Barthès et Guiraud company, incorporated as a general partnership (SNC) in 1901 in Rufisque, operating in the trade of local products such as peanuts (a major commodity exported from Rufisque to Europe), and the company J.-A. Delmas et Cie, founded in Bordeaux, which expanded its activities to Senegal—particularly in Rufisque—during the colonial period, specializing in the import and export of various goods and contributing to the economic development of the region.

At the end of the 19th century, Rufisque was considered an important trading center, particularly thanks to the peanut trade. In 1880, more than 23,000 tons of peanuts were shipped from its port, while the city of Saint-Louis handled only 6,000 tons.

This photo of Rufisque beach, taken between 1890 and 1920, shows the large stockpile of peanuts on the Rufisque coastline awaiting shipment to Europe and illustrates the flourishing peanut trade at that time. Intense activity took place on the beach with dockworkers and barges competing between the five quays. These businesses played a key role in the industrialization of Rufisque, reinforcing its importance as a major economic center in Senegal during the colonial era.

The peanut bags arrived at the port on rail carts and were stored in the open air and then in warehouses before being transferred to ships. Compared to today, this vast beach has completely disappeared due to coastal erosion and the advancing sea. There is no longer any space between the water and the houses, as shown in photo 4. This means that between 1865 and 2025, over a period of 160 years, the sea has taken around 110 meters from the coastline, according to local residents.

In 1865, Maurel & Prom built the first wharf in Rufisque, facilitating the export of peanuts. This infrastructure enabled Rufisque to export 2,000 tons of peanuts that year, surpassing its rival city of Saint-Louis. By 1867, Rufisque was exporting six times more peanuts than in 1865—12,000 tons—consolidating its position as the main export port for this commodity in Senegal. The Maurel & Prom company also invested in port infrastructure and owned a fleet of ships for maritime and river transport, thereby contributing to the development of trade and commerce in the region.

In this photo, you can see the fleet of sailboats behind the dock, the bags of peanuts on the dock and on the beach, and small boats pulled up on the sand. There were five docks of this type along the coastline, built over a length of 200 meters entirely of wood, reflecting the ingenuity of the time with their geometric joints and lifting posts. On the beach and on the dock, workers were busy loading and unloading bags of peanuts.

This photo provides information about the port infrastructure on the Rufisque coastline and the effects of coastal erosion. At that time, part of the quays were even located on the beach, unlike in photo 5 taken in 2020, where the remains of the wharfs are all in the ocean, far from homes and the beach.

This photo illustrates the dynamism of the peanut trade during the period from 1910 to 1929, before the crisis of 1930 brought trade between Africa and Europe to a halt. During this period, more than 50,000 tons left the coast of Rufisque for the sub-region and Europe. Philippe Delmas, a key figure in the company, played a major role in the development of the company’s commercial activities in Senegal. The Delmas company therefore contributed significantly to trade and industrialization in Rufisque during the colonial period by facilitating exchange between Senegal and Europe via the Rufisque coast.

The barges seen in the photo transported bags of peanuts in rotation to ships anchored offshore. The same scenario was repeated on all five docks at a constant pace, as the docks were always busy. The value chain operated efficiently from the station located more than 500 meters away, where the train unloaded peanut cargo arriving from the interior of the country. This cargo was then transported by carts to the storage areas or warehouses on the beach, and even directly onto the docks, as shown in the photo.

These activities declined with the development of the port of Dakar and the relocation of operations, and by the 1960s only fishing activities remained along the Rufisque coast.

There are around twenty of them, eight on the coast and the rest scattered around the city center. With the development of peanut farming and increased production, stone warehouses were built in Rufisque, using stone from the surrounding quarries, to store peanut seeds and other products intended for import and export. These warehouses faced the sea and occupied areas ranging from 836 to 1,377 square meters, forming an architectural heritage that local and state authorities have failed to preserve as part of the colonial legacy. Due to their proximity to the shoreline, coastal erosion has destroyed a large portion of these buildings, as shown in this photo, where one side of the structure is completely submerged and risks being swallowed or collapsing in the coming years.

In this photo, we can also see the remains of the colonial-era loading dock, now located some distance (about 150 meters) in front of the storage shed from which peanut bags were once shipped, illustrating once again how far the sea has advanced. Compared to photo 2, a large section of the coastline is now underwater.

Most companies of the time had their own warehouses, and these markers of Rufisque’s economic heyday as a commercial port are crumbling day by day. They deserve to be preserved and restored so that the important economic role this coastline once played will remain forever engraved in the memory of the people of Rufisque and the wider world.

The existence of these warehouses reflects the high level of activity at the port of Rufisque in terms of traffic and tonnage exported during the colonial period from 1865 to 1928.

This photo taken in 2018 reminds walkers and residents living by the sea of the activities that once took place on the coast. These wharfs were used as bridges for loading and unloading goods, particularly peanuts. Abandoned and eroded by the ocean for a hundred years, these remains made of palm trees prove their strength and adaptability to marine construction. There are five of them on the coastline in this condition, which belonged to French establishments and trading posts such as Maurel et Prom, CFAO, Delmas, and Barthès for the evacuation of their goods.

It should be noted that boats used to drop anchor off the coast and barges would transfer goods from the quays to the boats. Today, the situation is all the more bitter given that nothing has been done to preserve them, even though they could be used as pontoons for walking or fishing. Once used by hundreds of people and supporting heavy loads, these wharfs are now battered by the sea and serve birds rather than humans. These century-old structures could be given a new lease of life through restoration and rehabilitation.ž

We, the coastal residents, can only contemplate the remains of a flourishing past along the beautiful 2.5 km coastline that surrounds the city of Rufisque and has witnessed the formation and dissolution of interactions between communities and colonizers for the economic and social development of our old city. From the heyday of the coastline and its economic impact on the Lebou people of the sea to its decline in the 1930s, it is our responsibility to preserve this part of our shared history so that younger people and future generations can remember this colonial heritage.