On August 25, the onion market in Senegal opened, and traditionally the market for import onions closes around February 1. There are some rumours in the market that Senegal is switching to import licences for onions this month already. Time to check up on the state of affairs with the Dutch ambassador there, Pieter Jan Kleiweg de Zwaan.
"They will calculate and decide here next week when the market is closing, i.e. how many licences remain to be handed out. Because starting in January, local production will begin. And then they don't want any competition from import onions," says the ambassador. "So it's very important that Dutch exporters only export if they're certain they have a licence. They shouldn't let the importer put pressure on them, otherwise they are taking all the risk. Last year, Dutch exporters also sent containers full to Senegal, without being sure there would be licences. That caused a lot of hoopla then."