Vietnamese people in Senegal

The Vietnamese people in Senegal (French: Le peuple vietnamien au Sénégal) consists of both expatriate technicians and labourers from Vietnam, as well as the mixed-race descendants of early 20th-century migrants. A total of several hundred are estimated to live in Senegal; the national capital Dakar even boasts a few Vietnamese restaurants.

Both being former French colonies, Vietnam and Senegal have a long history of cultural links. Beginning in the 1930s, many Senegalese began serving in Vietnam as soldiers for France; some took local wives, with whom they had children. However, in the turbulent 1940s, with World War II and the First Indochina War, many Vietnamese women married to Senegalese followed their husbands back to Senegal. By 2007, Jean Gomis, himself a Vietnamese descendant and an unofficial "community leader", estimated that fewer than five of those wives remained alive, while 300 of their descendants lived scattered throughout Senegal. They retained some knowledge of the Vietnamese language and still cook Vietnamese cuisine; however, Gomis expected that within 10 years, the language would no longer be spoken. is still commonly sold as a snack food in Dakar by street vendors, many of whom have no Vietnamese background.