ECOWAS Participates in the Africa Investment Forum Virtual Boardroom on the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway in Collaboration with the AfDB

The President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E. Jean-Claude Kassi Brou Co-Chaired a Virtual Boardroom to attract investors to finance the construction of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Project with H.E. Solomon Quaynor, Vice President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) for Private Sector, Infrastructure, and Industrialization today, March 16, 2022.

President Brou while thanking the participants underlined the importance of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Project. “The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor is one of the main instruments that will ensure the development of our Region and consolidate the economic resilience of West Africa. It is an integral part of the major continental road development projects of the African Union and the AUDA-NEPAD Agency”, he said.

Similarly, H.E. Dr. Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in his remarks highlighted that the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Project is the most important infrastructure project in West Africa adding that it will ease free movement and trade within the Region.

The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway, is a project that aims to construct a 6-lane supranational highway with components to transform it into economic development corridor that interconnects 5 ECOWAS Member States (Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria) thus, facilitating transport linkages, free movement, and improved cross border economic exchanges between the five (5) countries involved.

The Corridor Project being implemented in collaboration with the Corridor Countries, is key on the 2^nd Priority Action Plan for the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA-PAP II). It is also a priority under the new ECOWAS Vision 2050 which among other objectives, seek to “Make ECOWAS a fully Integrated and Interconnected Economic Region”. Once completed, the corridor will boost trade (catalyst for the AfCFTA), instigate investment in other economic sectors, create employment opportunities for the citizens of Member States. The Corridor also forms part of the wider Dakar-Lagos Corridor and is a major part of the Trans African Highway Network and key priority in the ECOWAS 25-year Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan.