Diamniadio, the future headquarters of Senegal's 34 UN agencies, host of the 15th Francophonie Summit in 2014 and even of the World Water Forum (WWF) in March 2022, is undergoing a major transformation. Located on the outskirts of Dakar, it will soon be equipped with new sanitation facilities and a rail link financed by two West African banks.
In Senegal, construction of the new town of Diamniadio, designed to relieve traffic congestion in Dakar, is continuing. The project, launched in 2015, is receiving financial support worth 152 million euros. The funds are being provided by the Ecowas Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) as part of several agreements focusing on rail transport and public hygiene in the suburbs of the Senegalese capital.
At a cost of 30 billion CFA francs (45.7 million euros), mainly financed by EBID, the first agreement relates to the construction of a “wastewater treatment plant and emergency works for the integrated development of primary roads” in the Diamniadio urban centre. The aim is to improve connections to the sewerage network in 20 districts where 30,000 Diamniadio residents live in currently unsanitary conditions.
Financing the sustainable city
The second agreement involves the disbursement of 35 billion CFA francs (53.4 million euros) recently approved by the BOAD Board of Directors and a similar contribution from EBID to finance the second phase of the Dakar Regional Express Train (TER). Work is currently underway to build a 19-kilometre section that will extend the railway infrastructure to Blaise Diagne International Airport (AIBD), just a few minutes from Diamniadio. As a reminder, the Dakar TER avoids the emission of 92,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year.
Read also- SENEGAL: the Dakar Express Train, a lifeline for sustainable transport
The €152 million financing agreements were signed recently in Lomé, Togo. They were signed in the presence of George Agyekum Donkor, President of EBID, and Moustapha Ben Barka, Vice-President of BOAD. The two regional financial institutions are jointly investing in these projects because they demonstrate the “financial credibility, political stability and relevance of modern initiatives to stimulate growth” in Teranga, according to Doudou KA, Senegal’s Minister of the Economy, Planning and Cooperation.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi
