El Hadj Djily Mbaye Palace in Louga: A majestic building threatened with degradation
The palace built by the billionaire El Hadj Djily Mbaye, in Louga, between 1977 and 1987, symbolizes the financial omnipotence of this son of Louga in the 1970s-1990s. According to members of his family and other sources, the building was erected in the capital of Ndiambour to allow guests of Baye Djily to have, in the heart of Senegal, the same luxury that they have in their palace as a prince or Head of State. Several authorities, such as the former Ivorian President, Houphouët Boigny, stayed there. However, this gigantic and luxurious residence is threatened with deterioration due to the difficulty linked to its maintenance.
At the El Hadj Djily Mbaye palace in Louga, the maxim that “all that glitters is not gold” is called into question. “Everything you see at the top in gold color in the decoration is 24 carat gold”, confirms the guide, Mansour Lô, to our amazement at the beauty of the place. Louga is also and above all, the El Hadj Djily Mbaye palace, a majestic building. It is Friday, November 28, 2025. The weather is good at this time of year. The El Hadj Djily Mbaye palace is visible from afar. It is an imposing marble wall spanning several hundred meters. In places, sections of the marble tiles have disappeared, revealing a few cavities in the wall which, due to its quality and thickness, has nonetheless remained solid.
At the central gate, which faces the main avenue, the visitor must have authorization from the intendant’s office before entering the premises. The verbal agreement. Only one condition: no cameras, no cameras or phones, no bags.
Within the palace grounds, visitors cross the gardens which have been re-greened thanks to an automatic watering system. These green spaces are surrounded by several white second homes which served and still serve as accommodation for the illustrious guests who receive the place from time to time. After passing the long black gates which serve as a portal, we enter the space of the palace itself.
A large waiting room is revealed with several mini green lounges. In parts, the armchairs, surrounded by copper, have eroded over time. This waiting room at the entrance to the palace is surrounded by armored glass. On one of the windows, an impact is visible. One of the palace guides, Mansour Lô, explains to us that it is a bullet hole. “To test and see if the windows were really armored, Baye Djily fired a pistol bullet at this window which received the impact without breaking,” he confides. The result was conclusive: no bullet can penetrate this armor. The palace is intended to be a place of security for its visitors, great leaders of the world.
The armored window test
On the first floor, we are greeted by the aptly named guide Serigne Sam Mbaye (namesake of El Hadj Djily Mbaye’s big brother, Serigne Sam). At this level, the immensity and luxury of another age is more perceptible. The first floor consists of a living room, a bathroom, a mosque and the personal office of El Hadj Djily Mbaye. The spacious office is decorated with Persian rugs. At the back, there is a large wooden bookcase with glass shelves on which several copies of the Koran and other documents are placed.
Opposite the library, Baye Djily’s work chair sits near the table that served as his desk. Two visitor seats are set up in front of the porcelain table. Opposite his office is the mosque, on the right, a large Italian-style living room with a water feature in the middle. Many blue armchairs, with yellow stripes, are arranged in the room which can accommodate several one-on-one meetings at the same time. At this level, the wall decoration is made of velvet.
We continue the visit to the second floor where there are four apartments with the same models. In the middle of these rooms, a large Moroccan living room with a marble table. In the palace, one of the particularities is also that there are different types of decorations, lounges, paintings, etc. El Hadj Djily Mbaye, a multidimensional, scholarly man, was open-minded. On this level, the guide Mansour Lo, despite his young age, informs that he learned from his masters that “Baye Djily was a man who traveled around the world. He had a lot of friends.” Lo continues: “he wanted to have different types of furniture, living rooms to honor his different friends who also came to the palace.” Also on the second floor, locker rooms, walk-in closets and high-end electronic equipment are used, as with the entire building. In one of the kitchens, for example, the still functional burners, installed several decades ago, have the same characteristics as those of the last generation with a device for vacuuming kitchen odors, among others.
The utensils used such as coffee cups and kettles with gold handles are branded “Baye El Hadj Djily Mbaye” with the inscriptions of his name in Arabic. “He ordered cups and other utensils from major manufacturers in Europe and all over the world,” the guide tells us.
Mahamadan, a young visitor, chanting in a low voice a few verses of the Holy Koran, is enchanted and very surprised to discover this great luxury in Senegal. He can no longer hold back his joy. “We heard the ancestors say that Serigne Abdoul Ahad Mbacké one day visited the palace with Baye El Hadj Djily Mbaye. At the end of the visit, he said to Baye Djily: ”if paradise could exist on earth, we could say that you have a home in paradise”. This palace is worthy of an earthly paradise,” says the young Mahamadan, convinced. In his opinion, El Hadj Djily Mbaye was not just a billionaire, but he had a gift, a divine blessing regarding several areas.
Presidential suite…
On the third floor, the luxury and dimension of the lower levels are multiplied. We are in the presidential suite of the palace. The teasing guide warns us. “Be careful not to get lost here since it’s very big with a lot of rooms.”
The chandeliers, decorations are all in gold with unrivaled quality of furniture. The patterns of the carpets covering the floor are in gold, a large part of the wall decoration is also made with the precious metal; the stripes of the sheets covering the beds are matched with silver. This presidential suite also has very spacious dressing rooms with bathtubs and bathrooms of quality and comfort comparable to those of ancient emperors of the world.
The high-perched balcony of the presidential suite offers a breathtaking view of the gardens, the wooded area which has become a small forest. From this space, the guests of the presidential suite could contemplate the greenery of the fields.
Beyond housing, the palace also played an essential role in the production of vegetables and fruits in Louga. The vast estate surrounding the residences and the main building allowed market gardening. Many varieties of vegetables and fruits came out of the fields.
Soda Marème, a young Lougatoise, remembers that during her childhood. Every time they went to visit the El Hadj Djily Mbaye palace, she came back with fruit. “We were allowed to pick several fruits in the palace fields. There were even apples coming out of the palace fields,” she remembers.
The Quran offered by Sadam Hussein
In the presidential suite on the third floor, photos of El Hadj Djily Mbaye’s former wives are on display. This is the photo of Ndèye Sokhna (third wife) and Aminta Sourang (2nd wife). On the other, we recognize El Hadj Djily Mbaye and his third wife Ndèye Sokhna in the company of former Ivorian President Félix Houphouët Boigny. The latter, who was a great friend of the owner of the place El Hadj Djily Mbaye, was very frequent in Louga. Houphouët Boigny stayed several times at the El Hadj Djily Mbaye palace. He sometimes spent several days in the locality.
The holy book of Islam is present almost everywhere in the palace as in the living room of the presidential suite, one of which, carefully kept in its box, is a gift from former Iraqi President Sadam Hussein who personally gave it to Baye Djily, according to the guides. He also had a special relationship with the religious men of the country. The large photo of Serigne Abdoul Ahad Mbacké, son of Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba and third Caliph General of the Mourides, proudly hung in the main corridor of the presidential suite, recalls this dimension. The man, who was deeply rooted in Islamic values, was also a global citizen.
Several handmade frescoes and art objects of Western, Middle Eastern and even Chinese origin adorn the premises. In the large red wooden conference room of the presidential apartment, there is a fresco of General de Gaulle.
By Oumar KANDE (Texts) and Moussa SOW (Photos)
