Souleymane Bassoum criticizes Sadio Mané’s SM10 Agro project

Souleymane Bassoum, an agronomist and head of Quality Fruit Sénégal, has criticized the SM10 Agro agricultural project led by Sadio Mané, labeling the concentration of 500 hectares in the Bambali area a “catastrophe.”

Bassoum argues that concentrating such a large area in a single zone poses significant risks to the collection, storage, and processing of mangoes. He warns that a sudden influx of fruit could saturate the planned processing platform, which is designed to handle 10,500 tonnes per year. Given that post-harvest losses are estimated between 30% and 40%, Bassoum suggests that the current model could lead to massive waste.

To mitigate these risks, Bassoum recommends distributing plantations across different basins, such as Tambacounda and the Kaffrine-Kaolack axis, to stagger harvest schedules. The SM10 Agro project aims to produce fresh mangoes, puree, dried mango, and mango butter through a logistics chain involving sorting, preparation, and transformation.