Touba, la Ville Sainte Négligée : Entre Potentiel et Défis (Par Serigne Cheikhouna Mbacké Lakrame)
Touba, Senegal's second-largest urban center, remains a major spiritual symbol, but also illustrates the persistent shortcomings of urban infrastructure in the country. Inadequate sanitation, deteriorating roads, precarious security, and hygiene problems constitute the Achilles' heel of the holy city.
Neighborhoods such as Guédé, Keur Niang, Nguelemou, Nguiranène, and Gouye Ziar are regularly flooded with stagnant, unsanitary water, jeopardizing public health. The 15 billion FCFA drainage project, while welcomed, remains insufficient to meet the rapid urbanization and growing needs of residents.
The majority of roads in Touba remain unpaved or in poor condition, often lacking drainage systems. Access to drinking water, waste management, and the absence of urban planning exacerbate living conditions. Despite their commitment, municipal authorities require support and assistance from the central government to address these challenges.
Touba, however, has considerable economic potential with intense commercial activity, an opportunity that banks have seized by establishing branches and agencies there. The annual pilgrimage alone generates 215 billion FCFA, and could reach up to 1,500 billion if the tourism model of Umrah, Hajj, or pilgrimage to the Vatican is applied (Umrah and Hajj generate $171 billion per year, Saudi Arabia's second-largest source of revenue after oil; the Vatican receives €150 million per year).
Thus, with a rigorous organization of religious tourism, Touba could become a true economic powerhouse and contribute significantly to national development.
Furthermore, under the authority and religious leadership of Serigne Mountakha Bachir Mbacké, Touba has recorded major advances: the renovation of the Great Mosque, the spiritual and cultural epicenter, with colossal investments, the financing of a university at 37 billion FCFA, open to Senegalese and foreign students, strengthening the educational and scientific network, the consolidation of the values of peace, solidarity and social cohesion in the country and beyond.
However, we are calling on the State to help Touba reach its full potential. It is therefore imperative that the central government support infrastructure development and urban modernization, assist in the city's planning and development, and promote and organize religious tourism to maximize its economic impact. The people of Touba, fully Senegalese citizens, deserve for their city to be treated with the consideration and resources necessary to compete with Qom, Najaf, Mecca, or the Vatican.
Touba remains an underdeveloped city today, despite its economic and spiritual dynamism. Close cooperation between religious authorities and the central government would allow the holy city to become a model of urban, educational, and economic development for Africa, while simultaneously strengthening its global spiritual influence.
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