World Bank Group President David Malpass (front right) listens to CSUT Director General Thierno Birahim Aw (front left)

Every working day, traffic on the African Union roundabout, midway between Dakar’s popular Colobane area and the Cheikh Anta Diop University, is a nightmare for drivers. It could take ages to pass through this 2-km-long  route, which is one of the key crossing points of Senegal’s ambitious Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) initiative to decongest the metropolis. 

Despite occupying only 0.33 percent of the national territory, the Dakar region is home to a quarter of the population and more than 80 percent of the country’s economic activities. Dakar is not only the political capital, but also the legislative and judicial capital. As a result, there is an enormous imbalance with the rest of the country. 

This exceptional concentration on a small area of the land has repercussions. Ten years ago, a World Bank research report estimated that Senegal was losing around 100 billion CFA ($152.6 million) annually due to traffic congestion in Dakar. In light of this circumstance, the country made the decision to tackle the issue head-on. The government is building the BRT in addition to a new city at Diamniadio and an airport at Diass, some 50 km east of Dakar, which is already connected by a regional express train. 

Clean transportation  

The new BRT route will be 18.3-km-long and have a total of 23 stations, three of which will be hubs for interchanges. These stations are located in 14 of the most densely populated and congested communes. 

The BRT, which significantly lowers carbon emissions, is part of national clean, high-capacity public transportation system being planned for the country. It will increase the convenience and safety of urban transportation and generate 1,000 direct jobs in addition to carrying up to 300,000 people daily. Travel times will be cut by half, saving 59,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emission annually. 

As a part of an integrated project, the BRT will support urban growth, enhance the standard of living for locals, and contribute favourably to environmental preservation and sustainable development. The project involves 40 km of new sewage network, street-side seating, public lighting, and landscaping, said Thierno Birahim Aw, director general of the Executive Council for Sustainable Urban Transport (CSUT), the project’s main contractor. 

The BRT will not only reduce Senegal’s carbon footprint, but also contribute to sustainable development of the nation’s capital. As part of its promises to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, linked to an energy and digital transformation plan, it is the sole transportation project Senegal submitted at the 21st Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2015. 

In order to finance and operate-maintain the BRT project, the CSUT negotiated a public service concessional deal in March last year. A consortium led by Meridiam in collaboration with Keolis and the Sovereign Wealth Fund for Strategic Investments has entered into a 15-year agreement. With a total expenditure of more than $135 million (or 35 percent of the overall project cost), it involves the deployment of a fleet of 158 fully electric buses. Designed as a public-private cooperation, this BRT is the first of its kind in Senegal. As stated by Aw, the project includes a significant amount of local content, with 30 percent of the operating company’s shares reserved for Senegal government and local operators under an agreement.  

The completion of the construction works and the commissioning of the BRT are scheduled for 2023. “Ageroute, which is responsible for the delegated project management of the works, has reassured to complete the infrastructure and systems works by the end of this year. Then, we will carry out testing and validation phases with the selected operator before launching the commercial operation in the first half of 2023,” said Aw. 

A section of the Bus Rapid Transit route

Role of CRBC 

China Road and Bridge Corp. (CRBC) is responsible for building the BRT. In order to decrease carbon emissions from construction, CRBC is actively applying innovative technologies and materials. This is done in line with a green concept, which places a high focus on environmental conservation and sustainable growth. 

“CRBC has always been dedicated to upholding the law. While offering consumers high-quality services, it also fulfils its corporate social responsibilities, CRBC’s Senegal Communications Department said in an email. For example, the company has sponsored 15 Senegalese students to study civil engineering at Chang’an University in China. Some of these students have graduated and come back to Senegal to work with CRBC. 

CRBC entered Senegal in 2014 and was registered as CRBC Senegal in 2018. CRBC Senegal has previously constructed a number of high-quality road infrastructure around the country. The Thiès-Touba and Thiès-Aibd-Mbour toll highways, as well as the Foundiougne toll bridge, are among them. It is also developing the Mbour-Fatick-Kaolack toll road, in addition to the BRT. This means that it has emerged as a key actor in the Emerging Senegal Plan. 

Aw believes that by gradually establishing a mass transportation system, the country is attaching importance to quality public transportation to solve urban mobility problems in its endeavour to build a competitive and carbon-free national economy. According to him, President Macky Sall’s major desire is to encourage investment in these transportation facilities in order to develop a multimodal and sustainable transportation network.