“The impact of colonial administration was entirely negative for the Senegalese.” Discuss.

The question requires that candidates offer a considered and balanced review of the statement that the impact of colonial administration was entirely negative for the Senegalese. Impact may extend beyond the timeframe, but it must be clearly linked to issues raised in the question. Candidates may discuss enduring poverty in colonial Senegal, especially in rural areas, where authorities failed to diversify or develop an economy based mainly on peasant cultivation of cash crops. Alternatively, they may discuss that colonial authorities did introduce basic healthcare and western education, though provision was sparse and low in quality. Some members of the African elite had access to tertiary education in France. Candidates may argue that citizenship rights were available to Africans in the four communes, or that the preservation of chiefly authority meant that the impact of colonial administration was in any case minor in many areas. Candidates’ opinions or conclusions will be presented clearly and supported by appropriate evidence.