The “Venice of Africa” is sinking into the sea

A crowded island city built among waterways, Senegal’s former colonial capital—dubbed the “Venice of Africa”—is especially exposed to a changing climate and rising oceans. The thin peninsula on which fishermen like Mr Badiane live has the Atlantic on its western side and the mouth of the Senegal river on its east. A botched attempt, in 2003, to reduce flooding by digging a canal made things worse, putting a whole neighbourhood under water. A study commissioned by the Senegalese government a decade later found that 80% of the city will be at risk of flooding by 2080. “Saint Louis is a city of water,” says Mr Badiane. “If we’re not careful it will all disappear.”