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0 News Ghana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, Roger A. Agana, https://newsghana.com.gh/west-african-nations-finalize-plans-for-3164-kilometer-coastal-highway-to-boost-regional-trade/
Road engineers and policymakers from eight West African countries are racing to lock in the final route for a landmark 3,164-kilometer highway linking Cabo Verde to Côte d’Ivoire, a project poised to reshape trade and mobility across the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The three-day technical workshop, held in Banjul from February 26–28, 2025, marks a critical step toward solidifying the alignment of the Praia-Dakar-Abidjan Multimodal Corridor—a sprawling infrastructure network integrating road and maritime routes across 13 nations.
The corridor, stretching from Praia in Cabo Verde to Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire, with a 600-kilometer maritime leg connecting coastal ports, will thread through Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. It will eventually link to the existing Abidjan-Lagos corridor, creating a seamless pathway from the Atlantic coast to Nigeria. Once completed, the highway is projected to slash travel times, lower trade barriers, and unlock access to global markets under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“This isn’t just about tarmac and bridges—it’s about rewriting the economic destiny of our region,” said Chris Appiah, ECOWAS Director of Transport, during the workshop’s opening session. He emphasized the project’s timing, coinciding with ECOWAS’ 50th anniversary, as symbolic of the bloc’s push to accelerate integration. Appiah highlighted past milestones, including the ECOWAS Free Trade Zone and regional energy grids, while urging engineers to prioritize routes that balance technical feasibility, environmental sustainability, and local community impact.
Key agenda items included validating interim alignment studies, drafting terms for environmental and social impact assessments, and estimating costs for upcoming feasibility reviews. The African Development Bank (AfDB) and ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) are jointly funding the $12 million study phase, with construction costs expected to run into billions. Challenges loom, however, including harmonizing national infrastructure plans, securing cross-border funding agreements, and mitigating ecological disruptions in biodiverse zones like Guinea’s Fouta Djallon highlands.
The corridor forms part of the broader Trans-African Highway Network, with future plans to extend it eastward to Kenya’s Mombasa port. Its maritime component—a fleet of ferries connecting Cabo Verde to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau—aims to bolster intraregional trade, which currently accounts for just 15% of West Africa’s commerce.
While optimism dominates discussions, critics note lingering hurdles. Past ECOWAS projects, such as the Lagos-Abidjan corridor, faced delays due to funding shortfalls and political inertia. “Aligning maps is the easy part,” said a Senegalese engineer involved in the talks. “The real test is sustaining political will and ensuring communities along the route aren’t left behind.”
If realized, the highway could cut cargo transit times from Dakar to Abidjan by 40%, according to preliminary estimates, while creating over 250,000 jobs during construction. For landlocked nations like Mali and Burkina Faso, the corridor offers a lifeline to ports, though their exclusion from the current phase has sparked calls for broader inclusion.
As the workshop concluded, delegates underscored the project’s potential to curb youth unemployment and stem irregular migration. “Infrastructure like this keeps hope at home,” said Gambian transport official Fatou Sarr. With feasibility studies slated for completion by late 2025, all eyes now turn to member states to turn ambition into asphalt.
News Ghana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, Roger A. Agana, https://newsghana.com.gh/west-african-nations-finalize-plans-for-3164-kilometer-coastal-highway-to-boost-regional-trade/
