The Board of Directors of the AfDB has approved a €166.36m loan to Senegal for the construction of the Dakar-Tivaouane-Saint Louis road. The finance is made up of €46.67 million from Africa Growing Together Fund, a facility supported by the People’s Bank of China, and €119.69 million from the African Development Bank.

Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade said, “The Dakar-Tivaouane-Saint Louis Highway Construction Project will open up access to the northern regions. The latter is considered the basket of Senegal in terms of rice cultivation. It is also recognized as a region with significant mining potential.

The road will help carry out the government’s plan to process agricultural products, by drastically lowering their transportation costs.” Akin-Olugbade is the African Development Bank’s acting Vice President for Regional Development and Business Delivery.

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Overview of the Dakar-Tivaouane-Saint Louis road project

The project entails constructing a 200-kilometer dual highway with two lanes that can be expanded to three lanes. In the communities of Mékhé, Guéoul, and Kébémer, it will also include the development of 8 interchanges, and 113 pedestrian crossings (including 82 underpasses and 31 overpasses). 50 kilometers of secondary roads and 8 kilometers of internal roads with solar public lighting will also be built.

Additionally, the Dakar-Tivaouane-Saint Louis road will require the building of social infrastructures, such as three health centers and/or health posts. A facility for Gaston Berger University’s health sciences research laboratory will also be developed as part of the project. Furthermore, three bus stations will be among the pieces of a commercial infrastructure that will be erected or renovated. Solar photovoltaic energy will be used to power all of these.

The departments of Saint-Louis, Kébémer, and Louga, as well as the regions of Dakar and Thiès, are the key geographic areas the project serves. According to 2019 statistics, the region is home to approximately 7 million people.