With the African Development Bank (AfDB) Board of Directors set to review the financing request for the second phase of the Regional Express Train (TER) in two weeks, tensions are mounting. The NGO Lumières Synergie pour le Développement (LSD) is calling on the directors not to approve the new loan until the social liabilities from the first phase are fully settled.

In its general assembly, the LSD, which has been following the interventions of the AfDB and its partners for more than twenty years, believes that it would be "irresponsible and contrary to environmental and social safeguard policies" to approve new funding while more than 2,000 families affected by the project remain without adequate redress.

Funded almost ten years ago by three major institutions - the French Development Agency (AFD), the AfDB and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) - the TER project is presented as a major response to the challenges of urban mobility in Dakar.

But for LSD and the affected communities, the social impact of the first phase remains alarming. "The TER has certainly improved transportation, but it has also impoverished thousands of families," denounces Aly Marie Sagne, president of the NGO. Houses razed, shops destroyed, schools and community centers gone: more than 2,000 households in Dakar, Pikine, Thiaroye, and Rufisque have lost their livelihoods, plunging many of them into lasting, sometimes dramatic, poverty.

As early as 2017, LSD had conducted documented investigations demonstrating landlords' failure to comply with social and environmental standards. A formal complaint filed with independent redress mechanisms led to mediation, followed by a compliance audit after the mediation failed.

More than 54 violations of safeguard policies have been officially established. The AFD has suspended its funding six times to demand fair compensation from the State of Senegal and the effective implementation of resettlement plans.

In a report published on January 20, 2026, the African Development Bank (AfDB) itself acknowledged the reputational risks associated with the project and reminded the State of Senegal of its obligation to correct the identified shortcomings. It also froze over 9 billion CFA francs allocated to the second tranche, setting a deadline of November 11 for settling the outstanding social debt.

"No new credit without social justice"

It is in this context that the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) is expected to decide soon on the financing of the phase linking Dakar to the Blaise Diagne International Airport (AIBD). This prospect is deemed unacceptable by the LSD (League for the Defense of the Socialist Party).

"We are not asking for the project to be stopped, but for human rights to be respected before any new financial approval. This fight is not an act of ingratitude, but an ethical requirement. We are campaigning for projects with human use, where communities count as much as infrastructure," he insists.

Fatou Ndione, coordinator of the Collective of People Affected by the TER, recalls the persistent distress of the victims: "Since 2016, families have been living without a home. Billions have been invested, but our suffering remains ignored."

The same story in Pikine and Thiaroye. Bakary Dabo, coordinator of those affected in the Pikine department, describes a critical social situation: "Traders at the Mame Diarra market have lost everything. We were promised a new market in eight months. Six years later, nothing. Some have died, others have fallen ill."

The LSD and the groups of those impacted solemnly request that the bank not approve the financing of the second phase of the TER until the demands of the communities are met.

"If the bank wants to remain true to its development mission, it must place respect for communities and its own standards before any profit motive," insists Mr. Sagne.