Why the thousands of social housing promised by President Macky Sall will never arrive in Senegal

Senegal lacks 350,000 housing units, according to the country’s authorities, 150,000 in the Dakar metropolitan area alone. Particularly for working-class categories who devote an increasingly high proportion of their income to their rent.

“Le Monde Afrique” went to Bambilor, one of the municipalities which was to benefit as a priority from the “100,000 housing” program, launched in 2019 by the president, Macky Sall. The objective was to offer housing starting from 10 million CFA francs (around 15,200 euros) to low incomes, and in particular to informal workers. Five years after the launch, fewer than 2,000 homes have been built, according to the Cape Verde Real Estate Company (Sicap) and often sold for more than what was promised.