Telephone repairers and accessories sellers: the artisans of renewal in Colobane

Both a point of sale and a repair workshop, in Colobane a vast market for maintenance and equipment around mobile phones has been structured. Here, these artisans respond to a growing demand from users.

A popular district located in the heart of the Dakar department, Colobane, beyond the high human concentration, is renowned thanks to its market which is one of the most famous in the Senegalese capital.

This Saturday, September 19, as usual, this commercial hub attracts a huge crowd. If pedestrian paths offer relative refuge to passers-by, traffic jams stop time for motorists. Products in hand, the sellers call out to passers-by and compete eagerly to sell their goods.

The popularity of the Colobane market is partly based on the sale of second-hand clothes and second-hand phones, some of which are often presented as being stolen goods. A myriad of businesses coexist there, including phone repair and the sale of accessories.

In a corner nestled at the back of this economic hub is a popular space, commonly known as “Market Ba”. It houses many repairers grouped in single file on the sidewalk. Unlike the sellers who roam the streets, the artisans of renewal remain sedentary: it is the users who come to them, hoping to leave with a refurbished device.

Also read: Commercial transactions: when the QR code dethrones cash

Installed under makeshift tents made of torn tarpaulins to protect themselves from the blazing sun, everyone is busy repairing the phone entrusted to them.

One of them, El Hadji Mané, better known by the nickname “Gambian”, answers questions while keeping a close eye on a device being repaired.

This fifty-year-old explains that he learned the profession through one of his friends: “I learned the profession at Patte d’Oie in 2010, I went there to assist him and through time I got into it. Subsequently, I found a place in Colobane.”

The components and tools necessary for these maintenance operations are most often imported from China, according to Saliou Sène, also a repair technician who rushes into the breach. “The tools we work with come from China. We buy it in the stores next door. Sometimes we go to get the equipment, once paid, we return the price of the tool to them,” he says.

China, main supplier of accessories

Like all work, this activity aims to meet daily needs. Mouhamed Bitèye, white t-shirt beaded with sweat, installed in front of his display where all the brands of smartphones are piled up, admits to being polygamous and claims to earn his living depending on the crowd. “Sometimes you can leave empty-handed, just like you can earn 3,000 to 50,000 CFA francs per day, Alhamdoulillah! We thank God, we are doing well,” he confides.

In a completely different setting from makeshift shelters, Baye Leye Bouye, a cigarette in hand, declares that he is a professional telephone repairer and has had permanent premises since 2020 and is in good standing with the tax authorities.

Baye Laye Pouye puts young people on trial who repair phones in the streets. “Phones in general, what damages them is young people who are on the street and who repair them. We give them telephones even though they don’t have a workshop,” he laments.

“However, a phone is very fragile. These young people don’t know how to prepare and end up spoiling everything. It is because of them that some customers accuse us of stealing certain parts from their phones,” he adds.

The other engine of the mobile phone

In the arteries of Colobane, the commercial heart of the city, mobile phone accessories are an integral part of the landscape. Cases, tempered glasses, chargers, headphones and cases line the decor. It’s impossible to take two steps without coming across a street vendor or a merchant set up in the open air, with a simple parasol as their only shield against the blazing sun.

Abdourahime Diagne seems to have found a corner that suits him to display his articles. With well-fitted glasses and a cap screwed on your head, this accessories seller has found the perfect combination to protect yourself from the sun’s rays. The fear of “an eviction orchestrated by the town hall in no way alters his determination to earn a living. »

“Sometimes it works really well. You can come home with 60,000 CFA francs in one day. But when customers are rare, I only earn 30,000 CFA francs,” he confides.

According to Abdourahime, the goods they sell come directly from the Colobane market or the “Sales Room”. Unlike Abdourahime, Mor Touré is not lucky enough to have a fixed location. With his accessories in hand, he braves the heatwave and travels miles to present his products to passers-by.

“I can’t afford to rent a shop to sell, so I have to travel the streets,” he explains.

This method is not without risk. Arms full of equipment, he specifies: “There are accessories that I cannot sell while walking around, like tempered glass. They break easily, and they are difficult losses to absorb. »

In Colobane, an entire ecosystem around the telephone has been structured. A sector where professional technicians, street sellers and accidental repairers intermingle.

Fatou NGOM (Intern)