The African Development Bank (AfDB) on behalf of other Development Partners has reassured their unwavering commitment to the realization of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Development Project.
Addressing the 19th Ministerial Steering Committee Meeting which was attended by Ministers of Road Infrastructure and Works from Ghana and Nigeria, representatives of the Roads Ministers from Cote d’Ivoire and Togo, Technical experts, partners and participating dignitaries, Mr. Mike Salawou, Director for Infrastructure and Urban Development of the African Development Bank (AfDB) revealed that the AfDB will soon organize a Development Finance Institutions roundtable with ECOWAS to explore the best financing mechanisms for the project.
“We are going to make sure that this coastal corridor is a developmental corridor, an economic corridor, which is going to boost industrialization, promote trade and improve lives and conditions of ECOWAS citizenry. So we are fully committed to make this a reality”
Mr. Salawou revealed that the bank will segment the financial processes of the highway corridor into three (3) phases starting from the last quarter of 2023.
“AfDB has plans to start processing the financing of the corridor highway project in phases of three (3) and it is preparing to start phase one (1) by the last quarter of 2023 and by 2024. The AfDB will be the first, hopefully not the only one to start financing the corridor so that we can see traction.”
The AfDB Director for Infrastructure and Urban Development also commended “the federal republic of Nigeria who has started leading the way in launching the RFP to finance the section in Nigeria and we will like to follow suit and ask other Corridor Member Countries to also follow suit.”
The African Development Bank and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission signed an agreement for a study into the about 1,000 kilometre highway linking Cote d’Ivoire’s commercial capital Abidjan, to Lagos in Nigeria, marking a new step in building regional integration and trade.
The proposed Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway, a six-lane dual-carriage highway, will connect the countries through Ghana (Accra), Togo (Lomé) and Benin (Cotonou). The agreement signed Monday for a study on the technical, implementation and operational aspects of the project, comes nearly five years after the presidents of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria, signed a treaty on the establishment of the highway in March 2014.
According to AfDB, “the Bank approved a financing package of US$12.6 million to finance part of the study for project and mobilized a Euro 9.1 million grant from the EU Commission, bringing the total financing for this important study, to US$22.7 million.”
By linking some of Africa’s largest and economically dynamic cities, the road will promote cross-border trade and integrate fast-growing economies within the ECOWAS. This is expected to contribute to reducing the poverty levels of the population that depends on inter regional trade for livelihood.
