Perched atop of one of the two large hills that mark the Mamelles district of Dakar, the lighthouse has the abandoned look so characteristic of many Senegalese buildings. Les Mamelles Lighthouse, name derived from French is a strategically significant light house situated near Cape-vert  the westernmost point of Africa, on the outskirts of Dakar  finished  in 1864, and  has been said to be one of the world's great lighthouses, guiding ships around  West  Africa..

It is located on the highest Deux Mamelles a pair of prominent hills in Quakam  a suburban commune in Dakar, 4 km southeast of Almady and 9 km northwest of Dakar on the Cap-Vert peninsula.