• Senegal to deploy 1,000 hybrid taxis under FDTT-BCI SN financing deal
  
  
• Project targets informal sector reform, with 100 taxis arriving February 2026
  
  
• Aims to modernize transport, boost service standards, and cut emissions
  

Senegal's Land Transport Development Fund (FDTT) and the Bank for Trade and Industry (BCI SN) have signed an agreement to finance and deploy 1,000 hybrid taxis, with a first batch of 100 arriving in February 2026.

The project aims to reshape a sector historically dominated by informal operators and aging vehicles. For the country's authorities, it represents more than just fleet renewal and constitutes a lever for professionalizing and structuring the taxi driver profession.

The financial mechanism is designed to make drivers and owners more creditworthy by offering them a managed acquisition plan with requirements for management, maintenance and technical monitoring. The initiative follows work carried out during the 2024 public transport meetings, which established a comprehensive diagnosis of the sector.

With a population estimated at 3.6 million people by World Population Review, Dakar and its outskirts are dominated by private transport operators, despite investments for the Regional Express Train (TER), the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), and the expansion of the public operator Dakar Dem Dikk's bus fleet. According to the Executive Council for Sustainable Urban Transport (CETUD), mobility needs in the Dakar agglomeration reach nearly 7 million daily trips, exerting constant pressure on the urban transport system.

By introducing new hybrid vehicles within a strict contractual framework, the program aims to break with the practices of informal transport, characterized by vehicle aging, operations outside official financial circuits, and low service standardization. For the FDTT, the goal is to create a new generation of transporters capable of integrating fully into the formal sector while strengthening their economic competitiveness and access to finance.

This approach is part of the broader modernization drive undertaken by the state. Faced with a vehicle fleet dominated by imported used cars, the National Mobility Strategy 2025-2029 advocates for the gradual renewal of fleets to improve safety, service quality and environmental performance.

The BRT, the TER, and the urban and intercity bus renewal programs aim to structure public transport along major arteries. The new taxis will complement this system by providing feeder services, local connections and short-distance travel. This coordination is intended to allow for a better distribution of supply and a rationalization of the urban transport landscape. The choice of hybrid vehicles also aligns with the sector's decarbonization objectives.

Henoc Dossa