Mariama Bâ

The rise

A teacher and activist in Dakar, Bâ wrote her debut novel 'So Long a Letter' in 1979 — an epistolary account of a Senegalese woman's grief after her husband takes a second wife. The book won the inaugural Noma Award for Publishing in Africa and became one of the most widely read African novels worldwide.

What they did

The full picture

Why it matters

What citizens said

Afrobarometer Round 9 (2021–2023) — Senegal

% who say 'trust somewhat' or 'trust a lot' · Afrobarometer Dispatch No. 891