Dakar prepares for youth Olympics with road safety program
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Antoumane Sy, director general of ANASER, Senegal’s national road safety agency, is urging drivers to take more responsibility as Dakar prepares to host the 2026 Youth Olympic Games.
Sy emphasized the need to protect children walking to and from school, citing excessive speed and inattention as major risks.
The “Safe Routes to School” program, led by LASER International, will begin with pilot projects at two schools in Dakar, El Hadji Ibrahim Bèye and El Hadji Malick Sy, assessing infrastructure and improving pedestrian crossings. The program aims to reduce accidents by improving road conditions and educating students about safe practices.
Sy specifically called on drivers to respect speed limits of 30 km/h near schools and 50 km/h in urban areas, reminding them that pedestrians always have the right of way. He also pointed to a recent fatal accident in Goudiry, a town on National Route 1, as evidence of the dangers children face outside of Dakar.
To address this, ANASER plans to expand the program to cities like Thiès and Saint-Louis and is collaborating with the Directorate General of Road Transport and the Ministry of National Education to integrate road safety education into school curricula. LASER International reports that its “Safe Routes to School” program has already secured 22 schools and trained over 150,000 children since 2012, with support from partners including Yango, CETUD, the French Development Agency (AFD) and AGEROUTE.
