Xala refers to the curse of impotence that El Hadji, the protagonist, suffers through for most of the novel. His inability to perform sexually renders him unable to consummate his marriage to his third wife, N’Gone, whom he married only for his sexual attraction to her. The curse also brings him trouble with his second wife, Oumi N’Doye. Figuratively, the xala refers to the powerlessness of El Hadji and the other pretentious African businessmen in his circle in bringing forth any true change to Senegal. He is aware of their positions as middlemen and mere peddlers in their country, who are awarded exceptional privileges by their European providers as long as they comply with the neo-colonial order.

However, the curse also addresses the reliance of El Hadji and other Senegalese men on codes of masculinity that reduce them to their sexual functions. This, though the novel never directly addresses it, correlates with European stereotypes about Africans as purely carnal beings. Thus, El Hadji’s obsession with his impotence is yet another way in which he has internalized colonialist ideas about his identity: He feels like less of a man due to his lack of virility and believes that exceptional virility is what makes him a man.