Madar (Dakar) - Senegal's Minister of Urban Planning, Local Authorities and Territorial Development, Moussa Bala Fofana, on Thursday, 22 October 2026 presented in Dakar a national urban renewal and housing programme whose investment portfolio exceeds 1,875bn CFA francs for new cities, plus 1,100bn over 15 years for urban restructuring, nearly 3,000bn in total, the Senegalese news agency APS reported.
The programme was launched at the opening of the sixth SENHABITAT 2026 housing fair. The minister described a new approach of co-investment with domestic and foreign private partners in response to the housing crisis, high rents that affect more than one household in two in Dakar, and unplanned urban sprawl.
Every approved housing project must now include 50% social and affordable units and 50% market-rate units. The minister said the price of the reference three-room social home (75 square metres) will fall by about 20%, from 23.84 million to 19.07 million CFA francs.
A 29.66bn CFA franc revolving fund will be used to complete water, power and access-road networks for stalled housing projects. The plan relies on a national land reserve of about 17,800 hectares, with 14 priority sites targeted for 17,650 homes in the short term, while more than 5,600 hectares are being developed along the Dakar-Thies-Mbour corridor.
The flagship project, the New City of Thies, is planned to have 136,000 homes eventually under its master plan. A 300-hectare restructuring plan in Dakar, Pikine, Guediawaye, Thies and Saint-Louis is meant to produce 45,000 decent homes.
On buildings at risk of collapse, a national audit has identified 14,000 structures to be assessed, and an initial emergency envelope of 24.6bn CFA francs has been set aside for 14 reconstruction and rehousing operations in the Dakar districts of Medina, Colobane, Biscuiterie and Grand-Dakar, the minister said.
