Funding won’t delay Lagos-Abidjan Highway project —ECOWAS Commission

ECOWAS Commission has assured that funds will not delay the 1,068 kilometres Lagos-Abidjan highway corridor.

The commission further assured that construction of the project will begin in 2025.

Chairman of the Steering Committee and Nigeria’s Minister of Works, David Umahi, made the disclosure in Lagos during the 21st Steering Committee Meeting of the Lagos-Abidjan Corridor Highway Development Project.

Umahi said the project was initiated in 2013 but that COVID-19 caused the delay for three years despite the fact that there were numbers of funding partners, especially the African Development Bank (AfDB) that have been part of process.

According to the committee chairman, the steering committee has been meeting to bridge the gaps of the project that started in 2013.

He said, “Today, we will able to set a timeline for the project. We won’t have problems about funding because partners have indicated very strong interest and commitment towards the realisation of this project. Let me say this project is very important to member nations and to Nigeria.”

He told journalists that Nigeria has four legacy projects totalling 2,800 kilometres consisting “the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway, two carriage way and each comes with three lanes with facilities like CCTV cameras to be installed in all the stations along that corridor and it will be tolled.

“Other three ongoing legacy projects include; Sokoto-Badagry which is situated by the Lagos-Abidjan highway, Calabar-Abuja is another 477 kilometres as well as Abuja-Akwanga which passes through Jos and Bauchi is another 489 kilometres, totalling 2,800 kilometers,” he added.

Reacting to the issue of treaty signed by member states, Umahi said there was a conflicting issue on the nomination of coordinating agency – Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Management Authority (ALCOMA), adding that there has been an agreement after meeting at the ministerial steering committee where all the ministers of the five member-states met and be on the same page.

“The heads of member states of ECOWAS, Cote D’Ivoire, Togo, Benin, Ghana and Nigeria have met to agree on the Lagos-Abidjan and design of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) design, conceptualisation, funding mechanism shall be. We are going to listen to the committee of experts in terms of designs, we believe that we finalise the design today and we set the goal for procurement or probably in our next meeting,” he said.

While making statement on the objective of the project, Minister of Roads and Highways, Ghana, Francis Asenso-Boakye, said the road infrastructure is to connect communities with trade, tourism and social life.

He reiterated the member states’ commitment to accelerate socioeconomic development and boost inter regional trade.

“A country like the United States started their economic boom because they are able to connect individual states through highways. This is why we are trying to connect our own highway. The highway project helps to accelerate socioeconomic development. When this project is realised, it is going to transform economic growth among the connecting countries,” he noted.

The highpoint of the event was the presentation of technical designs by the experts committee which is made up of engineers from all the five member countries, review of project designs by ministerial steering committee as well as technical advice from the African Development Bank among other financiers.

Dayo Ayeyemi