The African Development Bank (AfDB) stated recently that it had obtained the $15.6 billion needed to fund the 1,081 km Abidjan-Lagos highway project, which is expected to be completed in 2025.
The two ends of the large dual, 3-lane road will be at Bingerville in Abidjan and Mile 2 in Lagos, respectively. The highway is divided into three sections: 295 kilometers between Abidjan and Takoradi; 466 kilometers between Takoradi and Akanu (both in Ghana); and 320 kilometers between Noepe in Togo-Cotonou-Lagos.
The infrastructure would facilitate transport between Abidjan, with a population of 5 million people, Takoradi, with just under 1 million, Accra, with 2.5 million, Cotonou, with 2.6 million, and Lagos, with 15 million, which are among the most active seaport cities and most populated hubs in the West African region of the Gulf of Guinea.
According to World Bank statistics, the five states through which the route traverses have a combined GDP of $589 billion and a population of 284 million people.
Abidjan-Lagos Highway Project benefits to go beyond the Nigeria border
It is expected that the Abidjan-Lagos Highway will also help to open up West Africa’s landlocked countries, including Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. According to the AfDB, the Abidjan-Lagos coastline encompasses roughly 75 percent of West Africa’s commercial operations.
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The transportation industry contributes 5% to 8% of the region’s gross domestic product and is critical for economic development and the creation of employment, especially for women and young people.
Noteworthy, the Abidjan-Lagos highway is one of 16 projects in the African Union’s Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) that the AfDB is implementing. It is critical to ECOWAS Vision 2050, which calls for the region to become completely integrated and interconnected.
The Abidjan-Lagos highway project’s ultimate purpose is to expand income-generation options for individuals in the region whose livelihoods are strongly reliant on modes of transportation. According to the financiers, the completion will be a game-changer.
Connection with other regional roads
The Abidjan-Lagos Highway is expected to be connected to another highway, the 440-kilometer Enugu-Bamenda corridor, funded by the AfDB, which connects southeast Nigeria and South-West Cameroon once completed.
The Dakar-Abidjan-Lagos highway is a much broader project, and the corridor is only a small part of it.
Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo are among the 14 West African countries that will be connected by this cross-border coastline highway.
Feb 2019
Nigeria to receive US $22.7m for the Abidjan-Lagos highway project
Nigeria is set to receive a whopping US $22m for the Abidjan-Lagos highway project after ECOWAS and the African Development Bank (AfDB) signed the loan agreement to develop the project.
ECOWAS Commission President, Jean-Claude Brou confirmed the reports and said the 1,080 km Abidjan-Lagos corridor would connect some of the largest and economically dynamic cities in Africa and also link vibrant seaports which served landlocked countries of the region.
“With the approval of the member states, the ECOWAS Commission forwarded financing requests of approximately 89 million dollars to several development partners, including AfDB and European Union, to fund the technical and project preparation studies,” said Jean-Claude.
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Abidjan-Lagos highway project
The signing of the Grant Retrocession Agreement was between ECOWAS, AfDB, and the contracts for the feasibility, environmental, socio-economic. The signing and detailed engineering designs for the six-lane highway were in recognition of the decision of the Presidents of Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo and Benin in 2014 on the construction the highway.
“Promoting regional trade is enshrined in articles establishing AfDB and is a key pillar in the High Five priorities of the bank.”That is why the bank is investing heavily in high quality regional transport infrastructure throughout the continent,” said Senior Director, AfDB, Mr Ebrima Faal.
Technical studies to be undertaken
The AfDB representative added that the objective of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Study was to undertake all the needed technical studies for the effective implementation, operations and economic development of the highway.
Mr. Mayne David-West, Pearl Consultants and Civil and Structural Engineers, who spoke on behalf of the other consultants, said the project design would take two years and would connect to the planned East-West coastal road.
The EU representative, Mr. Kurt Cornelis, commented that the project fitted in the framework of the cooperation of the EU with the continent and also the region and acknowledged that the project would strengthen the competitiveness of the territories, stimulate investments, and encourage regional integration for development growth and job creation.