Published on : 08/08/2022 – 00:15
Continuation of our series on the ports of the world which takes us today to Senegal. Located in the far west of the African continent, the country is historically turned towards the ocean. The port of Dakar, created in 1865, has continued to change, but today it is congested. Part of its activities will soon be transferred to the new deep-water port of Ndayane.
From our correspondent in Dakar,
Boarding the boat towards Gorée. The history of the port of Dakar is intimately linked to that of this island off the capital. Seydou Touré, coordinator of the “strategic communication” unit of the Autonomous Port of Dakar: “ The commercial development was installed at the level of Gorée, in particular from 1354. But afterwards, we understood that we had to have a foothold on the embankments, and then the imperial couriers understood, too. Already in January 1865, we received the first ship with 300 tons of coal. And it all started from there. »
The port, in the heart of the historic center of the capital, then gradually developed, in particular with the Dakar/Niger railway, inaugurated in 1924, and the peanut trade. ” 157 years of existence, 157 years of change. The first quays in this southern zone were designed in 1863. They ramped up in the early 1980s for the fishing port, the container terminal and the hydrocarbons zone, explains Momar Ngary Ba, Director of Strategy and Transformation of the Autonomous Port of Dakar. They were developed in the last decade of the 2000s. In my opinion, and I’m not saying this because I’m a port, it’s the port that crystallized all these developments. Originally, there was just a handle that was there, and after people, thanks to the activities, the employability, the attractiveness that the port exerts, made that a fabric developed. »
► To read also: The port of Beirut, two years after the explosion
The port never stops, it runs 24 hours a day. In recent years, management has focused on ship loading and unloading rates. Amadou Racine Dia, operations manager “Handling is very important, because if it is slow, it creates maritime congestion, and there will be ships waiting at the level of the outer oar. There will also be land congestion, many more trucks at the city level. Here we have to go fast. »
95% of Senegal’s foreign trade passes through the Autonomous Port of Dakar. It is also the gateway to Mali’s foreign trade. Papa Ibrahima Sow, commercial director, port customer: “ With market shares of around 70%, virtually all Malian imports pass through the port of Dakar. The agreements between Senegal and Mali entitle Mali to a wharf where they have priority docking with extremely significant tariff advantages. Above all, the Malians are our brothers, especially since they have no coastline. »
But 157 years after its creation, the port of Dakar is suffocating. Hence the creation of the future deep-water port of Ndayane, 70 km south of the capital, which will be backed by a special economic zone. The project was launched last January. The historic port will therefore change its face: “ When the port of Ndayane is in operation, there will of course be a transfer of certain activities, explains Momar Ngary Ba. Inevitably, we are going to improve the relationship and the integration between the city and the port. We are going to make it a hybrid port, part of the city with everything being done in terms of the waterfront, real estate, yachting and attractiveness, but most of the traffic developed in Ndayane and will make it possible to enhance the land. You realize that you are a bird’s throw from the Presidential Palace, the same for the Place de l’Indépendance! »
Objective for President Macky Sall: to make Ndayane the ” largest port in West Africa ».
► To read also: The port of Cotonou is being modernized