2023-09-28 08:08:03
In collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held, Tuesday, September 26, 2023 in Abidjan, the 1st round table of donors and of the main Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) on the Abidjan – Lagos corridor highway construction project. An initiative which is part of the dynamic of strengthening economic integration.
Sylvestre TCHOMAKOU
For the construction of the Abidjan-Lagos corridor highway, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) are mobilizing donors and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs). ) for the start of work in 2024. It is with this in mind that the two institutions organized, on Tuesday September 26, 2023, the first round table of donors and main DFIs on the said project. Initiated following the instruction given to the regional institution by the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS during its 63rd Ordinary Summit in collaboration with the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) and the African Development Bank (AfDB), as well as other development partners and the private sector, the objective of this meeting is to bring together the main regional and international DFIs to provide them with the latest information on this important regional project . This meeting, which is a first, is also intended to be a platform for raising awareness and “soft market testing” of the project to arouse the interest of investors and take into account their recommendations and requirements. This is being done while efforts are underway to finalize the technical studies in October 2023. According to Mike Salawou, Director of Infrastructure and Urban Development at the African Development Bank (AfDB), this exchange meeting aims to continue the discussions of yesteryear on the Abidjan-Lagos corridor, which is already a strategic pole which will strengthen regional integration and further develop trade, create jobs as well as strengthen industrialization along the entire African coast which extends up to ‘in Dakar. “Hence, he said, this discussion to accelerate the mobilization of resources for the financing of this motorway corridor and also to meet all the development partners and mobilize the efforts necessary to accelerate the physical implementation of this long-awaited corridor” . Seizing the opportunity, he reiterated the AfDB’s commitment to supporting the realization of this project within a better timeframe “and with the highest possible quality to galvanize economic and regional interaction in West Africa.” . For the Commissioner, Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalization of the ECOWAS Commission, Sediko Douka, the strategic importance of this project no longer needs to be demonstrated. According to him, the Abidjan-Lagos axis concentrates nearly 75% of West Africa’s commercial activities and the transport sector represents 5 to 8% of the region’s gross domestic product while playing an essential role in economic development and job creation. Better, if this road corridor is among the 16 projects of the Priority Action Plan of the African Union Continental Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) of which the African Development Bank is responsible for the implementation, this meeting appears as a necessity to refine the latest strategies for starting work on this corridor, he said.
It should be recalled that the Abidjan-Lagos corridor construction project is a 1028 km supranational highway which constitutes an important part of the trans-African road network which will connect the economic capitals of five West African countries, namely Côte d Ivory, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria. The highway project begins in Bingerville, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and ends in Lagos, Nigeria. This is the first phase of Trans-African Highway number 7 which begins with the maritime link from Praia to Cabo Verde via Dakar to Abidjan by road. This project, in line with the objectives of ECOWAS Vision 2050, has the key objectives of facilitating the movement of people and goods and accelerating regional and international trade and transport by improving road infrastructure. Ultimately, the transport corridor will be transformed into a development corridor to stimulate investment, sustainable development and poverty reduction in the region.
QA September 28, 2023
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