By John Ikani
The African Development Bank (AfDB) says it has secured $15.6 billion for the construction of the Lagos-Abidjan highway corridor to ease transportation across West Africa.
President of the AfDB, Dr Akinwumi Adesina made the disclosure during the 2021 Africa Investment Forum Virtual Boardroom Closing Session on Thursday.
According to him, the project is designed to connect five major cities in five West African countries – Lagos, Cotonou, Lome, Accra and Abidjan.
He went on to note that the Lagos-Abidjan highway corridor “will support 75 per cent of West African trade, impact the lives of over 500 million people, reduce transport cost across the sub-region by 48 per cent and increase intra-regional trade by 15 to 25 per cent.”
The AfDB boss who further explained that the highway will also connect landlocked countries to ports, added that the project will cover approximately 1,028 kilometres and eight border crossings.
The corridor’s current alignment traverses all major economic centres of the five participating member countries, starting from Bingerville, a suburb of Abidjan, and ending at Eric Moore, in Lagos.
Speaking on Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), the AfDB President has been critical in supporting women’s businesses.
He explained that in 2021, the AfDB provided $450 million in support of women’s businesses in Africa, and in 2022, the Bank expects to provide $500 million in support of women-owned businesses.
“The AfDB will also be establishing a $1m AFAWA women advisory facility to support women with advisory services,” he added.
