The tallest statue in Africa stands nearly 200 feet tall and is built on a 328 foot hill, and while it is stunning to look at, it is a highly controversial project.
The African Renaissance Monument, a 171-foot bronze structure perched atop the Collines des Mamelles outside Dakar, Senegal, stands as the tallest statue in Africa.
Created by then-President Abdoulaye Wade and brought to life by Senegalese architect Pierre Goudiaby, the monument was built by North Korea’s Mansudae Overseas Project.
Work on preparing the site on the 328-foot hill began in 2006, and actual construction of the statue began two years later in 2008.
Although initially scheduled for completion in December 2009, the project experienced delays, culminating in its grand inauguration in April 2010, a date that holds national pride as Senegal’s “National Day”, marking 50 years since the country’s emancipation from French colonial rule.
This initiative was spearheaded bySenegal’s then president, Abdoulaye Wade, saw it as a symbol of Senegal’s grand project, designed to herald a new era in the economy. African Renaissance.
It depicts a family reaching for space, with the man lifting his child by his biceps and embracing his wife’s waist, embodying “an Africa emerging from the bowels of the earth, leaving obscurity for the light”.
The monument is a depiction of an African family facing North West.
Responsibility for the monument’s design was given to Senegalese architect Pierre Goudiaby Atepa, known in particular for creating the Doors of the Third Millennium, which dominate the Corniche Ouest in Dakar.
The concept was “drawn” by President Wade himself, who claimed 35 percent of the copyright, although the initial push came from Senegalese artist Ousmane Sow, who later distanced himself from the project due to clashes with the country’s leader.
Thousands of people took to the streets to protest what they called “all the failures of President Wade’s regime, the worst of which is this horrific statue”, and riot police were on standby to keep the peace.
Deputy opposition leader Ndeye Fatou Toure condemned the monument as “an economic monster and a financial scandal in the context of the current crisis.” [economic] crisis”. The huge statue has come under fire for its high price of £16.6 million.
This unusual payment was made not in cash but via 30 to 40 hectares of land, which was reportedly donated by a Senegalese businessman or was land owned by the state.
