| Investee Company | Dakar Mobilité |
| Sector | Transportation |
| Country | Senegal |
| Total Project Cost | EU 46m |
| PIDG Commitment |
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| Dates of PIDG involvement |
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Dakar is home to nearly a quarter of the Senegalese population, but underdeveloped and expensive transport options leave 70% of its people reliant on walking as their primary mode of transport. On the busy streets of African cities such as Dakar, Lagos, and Kinshasa, it is not uncommon to see urban dwellers queue in long lines, competing for a place on overcrowded public buses. With road-related infrastructure designed around the needs of motorists, it can prove dangerous to pedestrians. Commuters are impacted by a lack of mobility solutions as businesses and economies are equally constrained by gaps in public infrastructure that prevent the efficient movement of services and goods.
The Dakar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) revolutionises Dakar’s public transport system, reducing emissions while easing traffic congestion and improving road safety. With a new fleet of 121 buses operating across 13 municipalities and an 18.3km route, the public transport system will eventually carry 300,000 passengers daily between the suburbs and the city. The landmark project signifies a first for Africa as the continent’s only all-electric public bus network, designed to reduce travel time across the city by 50 minutes and carbon dioxide emissions by 59,000 tonnes annually.
Technical Assistance provided the transaction with USD 10m of viability gap funding.
Gender considerations will prioritise employment for women amongst the 1,000 jobs expected to be created by Dakar Mobilité. The safety of female passengers has also been integrated into the infrastructure design, for example, by ensuring sufficient lighting at bus stations to enable women to travel safely in the evenings.
The fully electric public bus network in Dakar showcases the future of decarbonised urban mobility to the many metropolises across the continent seeking to implement climate-smart mobility solutions.
The project is expected to have a demonstration effect in African cities that are increasingly committed to investing in green mobility. The Dakar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) creates a blueprint for rolling out sustainable public infrastructure that contributes to low-carbon economies, addresses pollution, and reduces cities’ adverse environmental impact.
The Dakar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) offers a climate-smart alternative to current modes of public transport, improves the city’s road infrastructure, and brings Dakar’s population closer to economic opportunities around the city. The project increases economic mobility and provides development gains as rural-urban migration increases, cities swell in size, and the speed of demographic shifts accelerates.
