The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is preparing to conduct a series of investor meetings and roadshows to secure over $12 billion in capital required for the construction of the 1,000+ km Abidjan-Lagos highway.
Chris Appiah, Acting Director of the Directorate of Transport in the ECOWAS Commission’s Department of Infrastructure, Energy, and Digitalisation, announced that a recent four-day technical workshop with road engineers from Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo successfully completed the Detailed Technical Design Study for the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Project. This session involved a thorough review of the technical designs and drawings.
The workshop’s goal was to finalize and present the technical design studies for the six-lane dual carriageway to project directors and engineers from the participating countries.
During the four days, experts from the member countries received detailed presentations covering all technical aspects of the project, including the Detailed Technical Design Study and response matrix to ECOWAS and member state feedback. The discussions addressed various factors such as topographic, geotechnical, and hydrological considerations; road safety audits; environmental and social impact assessments; climate change considerations; and smart corridor features like toll systems and operational infrastructure.
The experts also reviewed a preliminary report on climate hazards from the Global Center for Adaptation, which is assisting ECOWAS and the corridor countries with a climate change study for the project.
This phase, the third in a series of feasibility studies, environmental and social assessments, preliminary and detailed designs, and draft tender documents, is being carried out in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to potentially attract green financing for the highway.
This development aligns with ECOWAS’ 2050 Vision and the strategies of the five participating member states, aiming to foster efficient, safe, and competitive infrastructure for trade and sustainable development.
The ECOWAS Commission is overseeing the design, procurement, construction, and operation of the six-lane supranational highway that will link Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) and Lagos (Nigeria) via Ghana, Togo, and Benin. The highway will be managed by the soon-to-be-established Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Management Authority (ALCOMA).
