More roads but less maintenance

Transportation spending in Senegal has increased much in recent years with road projects like the Cornice and toll roads around Dakar. But keeping up roads across Senegal is underfunded by 50 percent, according to a recent meeting of Senegal business school and government leaders.

Transportation is a key economic development infrastructure. Administrative chief of the Directorate of Land Transport, Papa Souleymane Faye, one of the organizers of the conference, fears new road construction comes at the cost of overall system maintenance. Aging roads and bottlenecks are a growing feature.

One wonders whether Senegal has a capital maintenance program for its roads, adopted by most municipalities in the United States. Many American cities and counties have sophisticated computerized road maintenance programs. But regardless of the sophistication, it ultimately takes money to get it done...

Karim Wade takes critical infrastructure ministry

Karim Wade has been appointed the "go to" guy for infrastructure in the Wade government. With the appointment by President Wade, he and his son appear to have shaken off the defeats of last month's local elections.

The junior Wade takes the title of Minister for Transportation and Infrastructure. The appointment is a natural fit for the front man of Senegal's "Concrete Generation" movement. The eager-beaver apparatchiks of the Generation de concrete have pushed modern world infrastructure in Senegal.

The newly minted minister's top priority is sure to be the flightless Air Senegal, its crumbled partnership with Royal Air Morac threatening to ground the national airline permanently, even as the new Dakar airport gets going.

Karim's new job is arguably the most significant in Senegal government. Karim Wade's success or failure will impact on Senegal's quest to be the capital of West Africa.