Place de l’Indépendance set for handover by October 2026

The Place de l’Indépendance is due to be handed over no later than mid-October 2026, establishing a deadline for one of Dakar’s public-space projects linked to preparations for the Youth Olympic Games. The site itself will not host either competitions or celebrations during Dakar 2026.

The City of Dakar says the development is now more than 80% complete. The timetable comes after Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lô said on 8 September that he planned to inspect the works. The municipality clarified the site’s role the following day.

State funding allocated to Dakar for the Games totals 5 billion CFA francs and is reserved for investment. Two billion CFA francs are assigned to road works, one billion to public lighting, one billion to branding and the remaining billion to improvements around boulevards and public squares.

The city has also launched contracts worth 13 billion CFA francs for various enhancement and development projects connected with the Games. The Place de l’Indépendance contract is valued at 744 million CFA francs. Other works cover Gueule Tapée Boulevard, the Cheikh Sidaty Aidara walkways, roads, lighting and 14 synthetic pitches across the city’s communes.