WOULD DAKAR LOOK LIKE PARIS?

These times, The city of Dakar is a riddle for many drivers, with traffic jams, nights and days. Manual workers or people with machineries are at work almost everywhere in various neighborhoods.
Depending on where you leave or go, you will either see a road , a bridge being built or buildings under construction.
The views of certain streets and places have drastically changed. I bet that someone who has left the city for a few years, thrown in one of those places, would really get lost. But there are no worries to get headaches from, many other things have still remained the same: Little street kids-Talibé- are still begging and "Car rapide"(1)-common public very old fashion and dangerous transportation vehicles- drivers did not change an once in being reckless, in spite of the new "Tata" buses shuttling from downtown to the far and away suburban areas of Pikine, Parcelles Assainies, Cambérène, Hamo, Ngor, Ouakam, Yoff la Sainte, Guédiawaye, Thiaroye Gare/Sur mer/Kao,Yeumbeul, Boune, Malika and Keur Massar. Is Dakar of 2007, capital of Senegal, on the move? But this city, which, back in 1854 was a village, will it ever look like Paris, even on the next fifty years ahead of us?
Next to me, someone ;"Yes.Dakar's gonna be in the next twenty years, an African version of Paris!"
Car Rapide: In Niger, there is an expression for a local vehicle similar to the car rapide which nigeriens call in Hausa'one of the native languages of the country) "Shiga da Arwalla" (Fais tes abbulitions avant de prendre place à bord). In Senegal, and specially in Dakar and its surrounding, car rapide are involved in most of the accidents with casualties.
Photos: Daour WADE, storyteller, scriptwriter & filmmaker
Copyright: Daour Wade-december-2007/ Email:mamdaw04@yahoo.fr