Before you start

A full, valid foreign licence — the original, surrendered at the exchange
A certificat d'authenticité from the issuing authority or its embassy in Dakar; start it before you fly
A certificat de résidence from your commune and a medical certificate established in Senegal
Three identity photographs

Step-by-step

1
Check the convention list before spending anything
Paper conversion exists only for licences from countries with a convertibility agreement with Senegal. Without one you are not converting, you are applying — a Senegalese test, at a Senegalese driving school, on a different timeline and budget entirely. Establish this first.
In personWho: YouOne phone callFree to ask
2
Get the authenticity certificate from home
The administration will not act on a foreign licence without an attestation from the issuing authority or that country's embassy in Dakar. Nothing in Senegal accelerates it, and it sets the calendar.
In personWho: You, via your home authority or embassyWeeksVaries by country
3
Collect the Senegalese documents last
The exchange file includes a medical certificate established in Senegal and a certificat de résidence from your commune — in Touba, from the commune de Touba Mosquée. Both are quick and cheap and both must be current when the file is submitted, so collect them once the home-country paperwork has landed.
In personWho: YouA day or two eachSmall municipal and clinic fees
4
File the exchange in Dakar
Applications go to the road transport administration in the capital with the original licence, the authenticity certificate, three photographs, the residence certificate and the medical certificate. Community reporting puts the category B fee around XOF 10,000 with issue in about 24 hours once accepted; we could not confirm either figure on an official tariff page. From Touba, plan the trip around it.
In personWho: YouDays once the file is complete, plus the journeyCommonly quoted around XOF 10,000 for category B — unconfirmed officially
5
Learn the Magal driving rules the hard way, or in advance
For roughly a week around 18 Safar the A2 and every approach road to Touba carry several million people. Convoys, pilgrim lorries and night driving in dust are the norm and the accident rate reflects it. If you can avoid driving in that window, do; if you cannot, travel two days early rather than the day before, and never at night.
In personWho: YouAnnually, around 18 SafarFree advice, expensive to ignore

Documents you’ll need

Original foreign licence, surrendered at the exchange
Certificat d'authenticité from the issuing authority or its embassy in Dakar
Certificat de résidence from the commune de Touba Mosquée
Medical certificate established in Senegal
Three identity photographs

Things most newcomers don’t know

A car is much closer to necessary here than in Dakar.

The capital has a BRT, a commuter rail line, ubiquitous metered taxis and ride apps, and many foreign residents there never convert at all. Touba has none of that, and everything practical — the departmental offices in Mbacké, the regional ones in Diourbel, the airport, Dakar itself — is a drive. Weigh the conversion differently than a Dakar reader would.

Source: Local practice

The motorway to Touba exists because of the pilgrimage.

The 113 km A2 Ila Touba from Thiès through Khombole, Bambey and Diourbel opened on 20 December 2018 with six interchanges, and had been opened provisionally for the previous Magal. It is the reason living here no longer means being cut off — and the reason the same road is unusable for one week a year.

Source: AGEROUTE Sénégal — Autoroute Thiès–Diourbel–Touba

A medical certificate IS required here, unlike in Côte d'Ivoire.

Côte d'Ivoire attaches the medical only to the learner route, so anyone who did the Abidjan conversion will skip it and be turned away. Senegal wants a certificate established locally as part of the exchange file.

Source: Senegalese conversion procedure

Your blood group is printed on the licence deliberately.

The Capp Karangë card carries it so responders can read it at a crash, along with ten fingerprints and an offence record read by contactless tablet. On the Baol's long straight roads that design intent is not decorative.

Source: CETUD — Capp Karangë

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming any foreign licence converts; without a convention with your country it does not
Leaving the authenticity certificate until you arrive
Skipping the Senegalese medical certificate because a neighbouring country does not require one
Making the trip to Dakar with an incomplete file — the second trip costs a day each way
Driving the A2 during the Magal week, or any Senegalese road at night
Treating the XOF 10,000 figure as an official tariff; it is community-reported

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.