In Guinea, environmentalists and locals are divided over the building of a dam near a wildlife park A pirogue on the Bafing River, a tributary of the Senegal River. West Africa’s waterways are the focus of numerous dam building projects promising to supply electricity to the surrounding areas. (wikicommons ) Share this page A pirogue on the Bafing River, a tributary of the Senegal River. West Africa’s waterways are the focus of numerous dam building projects promising to supply electricity to the surrounding areas. (wikicommons ) The people of Tougué, a town and prefecture some 400 kilometres from Guinea’s capital, Conakry, are eagerly awaiting the construction of the Koukoutamba hydroelectric dam. Aside from the employment the project is expected to bring, the 140,000 people living in the district are looking forward to a more reliable electricity supply. The site chosen for the project is the valley of the Bafing River, a tributary of the Senegal River which has its source in the prefecture of Tougué. The Senegal River flows through Mauritania, Mali, Senegal and Guinea before plunging into the Atlantic Ocean. In 1972, the four countries created an organisation, the OMVS, charged with the task of using the river to promote cross-border economic development. The organisation is now planning to build its biggest dam to date, in Koukoutamba, where the river has its source.