The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is impressed by the dynamism of Senegal’s Conseil exécutif des transports urbains durables (CETUD), which in January 2024 brought into service the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Dakar, the very first in sub-Saharan Africa. The infrastructure serves an average of 300,000 passengers a day.
But this green mode of transport (a network of 121 electric buses) will not be enough on its own to completely relieve congestion in the Senegalese capital and other cosmopolitan cities, which face numerous challenges such as interminable traffic jams, pollution and the inclusion of vulnerable people. With this in mind, GGI and CETUD recently signed a memorandum of understanding.
It focuses on improving urban mobility in this West African country by supporting governance and building the capacity of public transport agents and operators. “There are still major challenges to be met in decarbonising transport. This partnership will be extremely important in that it will give new impetus to the planning framework, but above all to the major challenge of financing green mobility”, explains Thierno Birahim, Managing Director of CETUD.
Two major projects underway
The two institutions are committed to the success of several ongoing projects, including the implementation of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (PMUD). This plan “is based on a new vision of mobility that takes a multimodal approach, prioritising collective and active mobility. Its implementation should lead to a 60% improvement in the reliability of the public transport network”, says CETUD. At the same time, the second phase of the Dakar Regional Express Train (TER) is continuing to stabilise road traffic by encouraging rail transport.
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The aim is to build a 19-kilometre section that will extend the railway infrastructure to Blaise Diagne International Airport (AIBD), just a few minutes from Diamniadio. The ultimate aim is to make inter-city travel easier, while avoiding the emission of 92,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year. The project is financed to the tune of 35 billion CFA francs (53.4 million euros) by the West African Development Bank (BOAD).
Benoit-Ivan Wansi