Overall features, length and condition The Trans-Sahelian Highway has a length of about running through Senegal,
Mali,
Burkina Faso,
Niger,
Nigeria, and the far northern tip of
Cameroon, ending at
N'Djamena just inside the western border of
Chad. All but about , mostly in western Mali, has been paved, but extensive sections elsewhere require rehabilitation or are currently under reconstruction. Most of the route uses existing national highways, but an optional route requires construction of a completely new road between Senegal and Mali.
Detail of sections The cities and countries served, and status of the road are as follows (going east): • In Senegal, Dakar to
Tambacounda, , paved, in poor condition; this road has been
paved for several decades. • Linking Senegal and Mali between Tambacounda and
Bamako, two options were proposed in the 2005 consultants' report • a shorter more direct southern route via
Saraya, Senegal and
Kita, about , using about of road paved in the 1990s of which most was in good condition, and requiring construction of of new road and the paving of of earth road; • and longer northern route of about via
Kayes,
Diéma, Mali and
Didieni, utilising national roads of Mali which are paved. • In south-eastern Mail, Bamako to
Sikasso via
Bougouni – , paved before 1990 and in fair condition. Also from Sikasso to Koloko at the Burkina Faso border, paved and in fair condition. • Burkina Faso section — via
Bobo-Dioulasso,
Ouagadougou,
Koupéla, and
Fada N'gourma, paved and in good condition except for paved section before the Niger border, due to be rehabilitated in 2003–5; • Niger section: of which was in poor condition, via
Niamey,
Dosso,
Dogondoutchi,
Birnin-Konni and
Maradi to the Nigerian border at
Jibia. • Nigeria section — , all paved and in fair condition, via
Katsina,
Kano,
Kari,
Maiduguri and
Dikwa. • The short Cameroon section consists of an unpaved gravel road from the Nigerian border to Maltam which is impassable in the
wet season; as this road is not used by local traffic to any extent, Cameroon has no plans to upgrade it. The section from Maltam to
Kousseri at the Chad border is paved and is used mainly by Chadian traffic. • Chad: the highway is fairly complete except for the last 150 km from
Abeche to the Sudanese border town of
Adré and a small gap within the city limits of
Mongo, Chad. It is in need of some maintenance in some areas as the surface has become broken up. There is regular bus service from the capital NDjamena to Abeche every day. Alternative routes at the eastern end: • the alternative to the unpaved section through Cameroon is a route which adds about on paved roads via
Bama, Nigeria and
Mora and
Waza National Park in Cameroon. • an alternative route of about between Niger and Chad, by-passing Nigeria, will be possible when a proposed new road around the north and east of
Lake Chad is built connecting Ndjamena to
Nguigmi which is about inside Niger. Nguigmi is connected by a paved road via
Zinder to
Maradi, Niger where it meets the Trans-Sahelian Highway.
Links to other transnational highways The Trans-Sahelian Highway intersects with the following
Trans-African Highways: • in Dakar • in Dakar • in
Kano, Nigeria • in N'Djamena, with which it will form a complete east–west crossing of the continent of . The northern regions of
Guinea,
Côte d'Ivoire,
Ghana,
Togo, and
Benin are close to the Trans-Sahelian Highway, which may be used to by travellers between those regions in preference to the
Trans–West African Coastal Highway further south. Paved roads connect the Trans-Sahelian and West African Coastal Highways through • Côte d'Ivoire (Sikassa or Bobo-Dioulasso to
Yamoussoukro) • Ghana (Ouagadougou to
Accra) • Togo (Koupela to
Lomé) • Benin (Dosso to
Cotonou) • Nigeria (Birnin-Konni or Kano to
Lagos). ==See also==