The Saudi Development Fund will provide 63 million dollars to finance the first phase of “La Côtière.”
The government of Senegal will build a highway along the coastline that will link the capital, Dakar, to the largest city in the north of the country, Saint-Louis. Called “La Côtière,” this road, which will pass through the religious city of Tivaouane (West), will be an extension of the Northern Relief Road (Voie de Dégagement Nord – VDN) and will be nearly 200 km long.
To materialise this project, the CEO of the Saudi Development Fund, Sultan bin Abdulrahman Al-Marshad, signed on Monday in Dakar a development loan agreement worth an estimated 63 million dollars with the Minister of Economy, Planning and Cooperation of Senegal, Oulimata Sarr. It will finance the first phase of the Dakar-Saint-Louis, Dakar-Tivaouane coastal highway project.
This first phase aims to establish a two-lane highway, 25.6 metres wide and 12 km long. It includes an emergency lane, an additional area and a median. The agreement also includes site preparation, excavation works, storm water drainage, overhead intersections, safety supplies, signage and road lighting, the statement said.
Thanks to these achievements, the project will contribute to the development of the level of road safety and to the satisfaction of the needs of the inhabitants of the towns and villages. Similarly, it will also reduce injury and death rates resulting from traffic accidents in addition to facilitating the process of commercial and economic exchanges, the note said.
“This project will help link towns and villages together, which is of great importance to the lives of many beneficiaries as it contributes to the improvement of the social and economic conditions of the population,” Ms. Sarr said.
She also praised the importance of the great role played by the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through the Saudi Fund for Development in supporting development projects and programmes, and the development of the transport and communications sector in Senegal.
Since 1978, in addition to this agreement, the Fund has granted 27 development loans to help finance 25 development projects and programmes worth about $447 million.
At the signing, Riyadh also awarded four grants worth over $19 million to the transport and communications, infrastructure, health, housing, urban development, energy, education, and water and sanitation sectors.
ARD/te/lb/abj/APA