The building of the Senegal River Navigation Corridor will be launched by a groundbreaking ceremony in April 2026. The channel will connect the Senegal Atlantic port of Saint-Louis and the city of Ambidededi, Mali, covering a distance of 905 km.(about 562 miles). It will benefit the four Senegal River Basin nations of Senegal, Mauritania, Mali and Guinea, and serve as a maritime gateway to the Alliance of Sahel States comprising Mail, Niger and Burkina Faso.
The project promises to reduce transportation costs by 60% while economically and politically integrating the West African states with those of the Sahel. It follows the announcement of the completion of the Trans Sahara Gas Pipeline, which will transport Nigerian gas, through Niger and connect into the Algerian pipeline network and the Mediterranean.
The project is backed by two regional organizations responsible for the development of the river, Société de Gestion et d’Exploitation de la Navigation du Fleuve Sénégal (SOGENAVSOGENAV) and the Organization for the Development of the Senegal River (OMVS), whose members are the four basin nations, according Business Insider Africa on Feb. 20.
