Senegal’s first railway was built primarily for military conquest, not trade.

Evidence

According to Pheffer, the original reason for building the line in Senegal was to conquer the independent and hostile province of Cayor which lay between the ports of Saint-Louis and Dakar. The governor was nevertheless delighted when it boosted the colony’s trade as well. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 999

Categorization

• XREF: Fits the reader’s thesis that the civilizing mission’s infrastructure served coercion before commerce — railway as conquest tool first, trade booster second.