Lomé, 24 March 2017. The public-private partnership (PPP) structure and guarantee mechanisms for projects under the Community Development Programme (CDP) of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) were the main focus of a meeting held from 14 to 17 March 2017 in Lomé, Togo.

The meeting, initiated by the Commission of the regional organisation, in conjunction with the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), enabled participants to review CDP priority projects and discuss the PPP structure for the upcoming donors’ roundtable.

These projects include the construction of the Lagos-Dakar Highway in two phases. Phase 1 comprising the 1028 km-long Abidjan-Lagos highway and phase 2 for the 3000 km-long Abidjan-Dakar highway.

It also includes the Cotonou-Niamey-Ouagadougou-Dori-Abidjan railway loop project and the Ouangolodougou-Bamako railway project, as well as the establishment a shipping company « Sealink ».

The ECOWAS air transport project, the 225kV and 330kV electricity grid interconnection in West Africa (Nigeria-Niger-Benin-Burkina Faso; Ghana-Burkina Faso; Mali-Guinea), and the development of renewable energy systems in ECOWAS Member States were also considered.

The participants further discussed the Regional Offensive Programme for Rice Production in West Africa (with a component on drilling boreholes for food and agriculture use), establishment of 6 referral hospitals and the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Disease Surveillance and Control (RCDC).

Following deliberations, a template for PPP project presentation and structure was adopted and documented for priority projects earmarked for the donors’ roundtable.

Another positive outcome of the meeting was that project documents also highlighted potential risks and existing guarantee mechanisms, alongside the possibility of bringing together activities of the institutions represented.

At the end of the meeting, the institutions expressed their readiness to support the ECOWAS Commission through their various instruments to ensure the effective implementation of CDP priority projects.

They also indicated that they were open to adapting their intervention mechanisms to the different structures to be adopted in consultation with donors for each project.

The meeting was attended by representatives of regional and international financial institutions, alongside Heads of ECOWAS Specialised Agencies and Institutions. They included the EBID President, Bashir Ifo, the Special Representative of the ECOWAS Commission President in Togo, Lompo Garba, and the ECOWAS Commissioner for Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Research, Mamadou Traoré.