When work is finished, a black sea wall will stretch for kilometres along the coastline of the West African country's former capital, famed for its colonial-era architecture. Saint-Louis has "already been wiped off the map," said Boubou Aldiouma Sy, a geography professor at the city's Gaston Berger University. It served as the capital of the French colony of Senegal until the capital moved to Dakar shortly before Senegal’s independence in 1960. But experts point out that while it can protect against freak surges, it cannot stop the rising sea. He isn't convinced that his city has met its end, however, highlighting Senegal's nascent oil and gas sector and all its potential.
