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The 1,008-kilometer highway is expected to cross five ECOWAS countries, including Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, the Republic of Benin, Togo and Nigeria.
The African Development Bank and the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have signed an agreement for the study of a 1,000-kilometer highway linking Abidjan, the commercial capital of Ivory Coast, to Lagos, Nigeria, marking a new stage in the construction of regional roads. integration and trade.
The future Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Expressway, a six-lane (dual) highway, will link countries via Ghana (Accra), Togo (Lomé) and Benin (Cotonou).
The agreement signed Monday for a study on the technical aspects, operational and implementation of the project comes nearly five years after the signing by the presidents of Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria the creation of the March 2014 highway.
Jean Claude Brou, President of the ECOWAS Commission, Vice-President of the ECOWAS Commission, Finda Koroma, Nigerian Minister of Energy, Public Works and Housing and Chair of the Ministerial Steering Committee of the Development Program Abidjan-Lagos road corridor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, attended the meeting. the ceremony that took place in Abuja, Nigeria. The European Union (EU) Head of Cooperation in Abuja, Kurt Cornelis, as well as other relevant stakeholders, were also present at the meeting.
The Bank approved a funding envelope of US $ 12.6 million to finance part of the study and mobilized a € 9.1 million grant from the European Commission, bringing the total funding for this important study at 22.7 million USD.
By linking some of Africa's largest and most economically dynamic cities, the road will promote cross-border trade and integrate the rapidly growing economies within ECOWAS. This should help reduce the poverty levels of the population, which depends on inter-regional trade for their livelihood.
Ebrima Faal, Senior Director of the Bank's Office in Nigeria, said "The Bank remains fully committed to the ECOWAS Vision 2020. "We will work closely with the public and private sectors to unlock new sources of growth for Africa, while reducing inequalities between and within countries.
Together, we can unlock the enormous potentials of the West African region and achieve the sustainable development goals for the region, "said Faal.
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