Vehicle Registration Senegal or USA?

[alexgeorgianna]

I am an American living temporarily in Dakar, Senegal. I expect to be here for about 6 months. I want to purchase a used Jeep Wrangler (less than 5 years old) and use it to explore both Saharan Africa (e.g. Morroco, Western Sahara, Mauritania and Mali) and then later I plan to drive through Western Africa at least as far as Nigeria.

I think I have only two choices:

1. Have the car registered, titled and insured in my home state of Massachusetts and then secure a carnet and international insurance before shipping the vehicle to Dakar, or
2. Have the car shipped to Dakar and then register and insure the vehicle here.

I realize that Senegal is one of the more difficult countries in Africa and that the import duty may be as high as 40%. However I suspect that once I've registered in Senegal, I'm pretty good for the rest of the continent. I'm also concerned that, because I intend to be here for several months, a carnet may not suffice for such a long stay in Dakar.

Can anyone advise me whether I should:

1. Register the car in the US (and pay US sales tax of about 6%) and travel in Africa with or without a carnet (remember, I have to ship the car to Dakar), or
2. Register and insure the car in Dakar (while paying the duty, but not paying the US sales tax) and travel in Africa without a carnet.

Thanks,
Alex