$15.6 Billion Investment Secured By AfDB To Construct Lagos-Abidjan Highway

The president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has revealed that the bank has secured 15.6 billion dollars investment for the construction of the Lagos-Abidjan highway.

He said that regional trade and integration in West Africa would be strengthened through the investment by linking the hinterlands of different Participating Member Countries (PMCs).

The president said that the investment would include providing seaport access to landlocked countries and some transition states of West Africa to the vibrant seaports.

The Lagos-Abidjan highway interconnects the capital cities of five Western African States, covering approximately 1,028 km and eight border crossings.

They are Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria.

The Abidjan- Lagos corridor forms part of the wider Dakar-Lagos Corridor and a major part of the Trans African Highway  Network within the  ECOWAS region.

It is also a flagship project of the  Programme for Infrastructure Development in  Africa (PIDA).

According to a statement issued by AfDB recently, the Abidjan Lagos project is a  key regional trade and transport corridor that interconnects some of the largest and most economically dynamic cities in Africa, Abidjan, Accra, Cotonou, Lomé, and Lagos.

It also said that the corridor links other corridors along the north-south axis and interconnects the landlocked countries of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Chad.

“The corridor interconnects the most densely populated and economically active parts of the sub-region – it intersects with a rail network and major ports/airports.

“The transport sector in West Africa plays a key role in the economic development of the region and generates about five to eight percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“This remains cognisant of the fact that an efficient regional transport network is an enabling infrastructure required to promote regional trade and socio-economic development,  inter alia.

“ECOWAS  and  WAEMU  member states have consistently committed themselves to the financing of designated regional transport corridors.

“The Abidjan–Lagos transport corridor currently supports approximately 75 percent of sub-regional trade activities.

“However, a combination of hard and soft infrastructure deficiencies negates its optimal contribution to regional economic growth,’’ the bank said.