The informal sector in public policies to modernise Dakar’s urban transport system

Africa’s major cities, emblematic figures of the infrastructure metropolis, symbolise the continent’s entry into modernity. From Rabat to Cape Town and from Dakar to Nairobi, every metropolis has its own metro, tram, express train or Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT), either in operation or planned. The placing of these major mass transport infrastructure on the political agenda is superimposed on the management of a pre-existing system in which a public sector and a so-called informal, or small-scale, public transport system coexist. Does the fluidity embodied by the new infrastructures spread to ordinary transport players? Dakar is the observation ground for these public policies. The data mobilised results from an analysis of the discourses of political and managerial authorities and a quantitative and qualitative survey, conducted in October 2019 on a sample of 180 transport system actors, in 6 informal transport garages to be relocated by the BRT. The modernisation of Dakar’s urban transport system is marked by the uncertainty of the institutional reforms encouraged by international donors from a neoliberal perspective. It is still struggling to provide a comprehensive, coherent and effective response that combines the internationalisation of infrastructure and mobility services with the informality of pre-existing systems.