The railway network stretches 1,057 km, 905 km of which make up the main network and 152 km of which make up the secondary network. The railway network is composed of two main axes : the Dakar – Kidira railway line (at the Malian border) and the Thies – Saint-Louis line, which is currently not being exploited by any company.

Following a call for tenders, the Canadian Group Canac-Getma was selected for the full management of the Dakar-Bamako axis. On the basis of a concession contract, the Group has committed to invest around forty billion CFA for the rehabilitation and maintenance of the network.

The ultimate objective is the development and gradual rehabilitation of the railway network, which will turn from a metre gauge system into a standard gauge system, or broad gauge system.

Senegal has three international airports: Dakar, Saint-Louis and Ziguinchor. However, 15 airports are opened for public use. The Leopold Sedar Senghor international airport, in Dakar, generates the main part of the traffic, due to the fact that it can receive all kinds or planes, included high-capacity aircraft.

With a steady average growth of 7% per year over the past decade and a flow of 1.2 million passengers for 35,000 aircraft operations throughout the year, the Dakar airport has now become a major regional platform. It is the first airport of the ECOWAS zone, in terms of its flow of passengers and is the eighth one of its type in Africa, after those of Johannesburg and Northern Africa.

Today, Air Sénégal International (ASI), which was created in partnership with Morocco, in 2001, serve 17 destinations from Dakar. ASI and South African Airways have signed a code-sharing agreement for two Johannesburg-Dakar-New-York flights each week. ASI also has two daily flights between Dakar and Paris, and two weekly flights to Lyons and Marseilles. ASI’s air traffic has doubled in one year to reach 25,000 passengers; its staff has tripled in 2 years and they now have 400 employees.

The port of Dakar enjoys an favourable geographical location, because it is located at the furthest end of the West African Coast; it is a crossroads for several maritime roads between Europe, North America, Latin America and the African continent.
The port area extends over 3,260,000 square metres. This comprises :

• 10 km of quays
• 40 working berths for ships drawing a maximum of 11 metres
• 80,900 m2 platform for short-term storing
• 170.600 m2 of yards (container yards)
• 60.597 m2 of covered warehouses

The Dakar Port is mainly frequented by container-carriers, cargo ships, roll-on roll-off vessels, tankers, and fishing vessels. Large companies are based in the port, offering various services and all kinds of port facilities. The port has:

• infrastructures for transit towards hinterland countries, such as Mali, Burkina Faso.
• A facility for ship repair, which has one of the biggest ship repair yards on the West African coast.
• Railway infrastructures linked to the national and international railway network, with two main lines for the transportation of goods.

The authorities of the port of Dakar have launched a major modernisation programme, including the building of a road bypassing the container terminal, a distribution platform, and a third container terminal, facilities for the storing of fruit and vegetables, and a port goods station. The finalisation of the Bargny mineral port will make Dakar’s port fit for the twenty-first century.

Over the past few years, Senegal has invested more money than any other African country in the telecommunications sector. In 1994, Senegal was ranked top of all sub-Saharan countries by the International Telecommunications Union, for the telephone penetration rate and the high quality of service.

In the field of telecommunications, Senegal has become a leader in West Africa, with the growing modernisation of its technological apparatus including: the operating of optic fibre submarine liaisons linking Africa, Europe, America and Asia ; the development of the IP (Internet Protocol) network ; the use of ADSL technology; coverage of the wholeof the country by an optic fibre network; the securing of transmission by means of the SDH network (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy).

Mobile telephony has experienced a steady progression in Senegal. In early 2001, the number of mobile lines had exceeded that of fixed lines. Today, the number of mobile phone owners is 700,000, for a teledensity of 4.8%. From the second half of the year 2004, the Société nationale des Télécommunications (Sonatel) – National Telecommunications Company -, will no longer have a monopoly on the operation of the national and international fixed telephony.