ECOWAS & AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK GROUP (AfDB) (AfDB) HOLDS ORIENTATION AND TECHNICAL BRIEFING SESSION FOR MEMBERS OF THE NEWLY INNUAGRATED BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE ABIDJAN-LAGOS CORRIDOR MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY (ALCoMA)

Abidjan from the 19-20 of February 2026. The ECOWAS Commission in close collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB) organized an Orientation and Technical Briefing Session as part of the onboarding process for the newly inaugurated Governing Board of ALCoMA. The Board of Directors of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Management Authority, ALCoMA, was officially inaugurated and sworn into office in December 2025, at the 22^nd Ministerial Steering Committee meeting of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Development Project.

The successful conduct of this Orientation and Technical Briefing Session for the Board marks a very important milestone towards preparations for the investment and construction phases of the flagship 6-lane supra-national highway project from Abidjan through Accra, Lome, Cotonou to Lagos.

The Orientation and Technical briefing workshop provided comprehensive insights on the corridor Treaty; the vision, supranational status and high-level corridor objectives adopted by the Presidents of the 5-Corridor Countries as well as summary of feasibility, technical designs, and financing option studies for the construction of the highway. The Board Members were also introduced to the soft facilitation and economic components of trade and transport facilitation, spatial development initiatives including, value chain, logistics and economic anchor projects as well as the communication and visibility services.

On the institutional and legal framework governing the Corridor development project, including the Legal Regime (Treaty, Intergovernmental Agreement, draft International Project Agreement) which established the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor and its Management Authority. The Board also had a first review of their Rules of Procedures, Board Charter as well as a review of the process of the recruitment for Chief Executive Officer, Directors and other technical staff of ALCoMA.

The ECOWAS Delegation led by the Director of Transport, Mr. Chris Appiah emphasized that the integrated economic corridor approach being used which combines infrastructure development, facilitation and economic to corridor development. The Board  was assured of the continues support and guidance of ECOWAS for the  in the next phases of the development Abidjan Lagos Corridor Highway and the full operationalization of ALCoMA. The AfDB represented by a high-level delegation of the African Development Bank, AfDB, led by its Director of Infrastructure and Urban Development, Mr. Mike Salawou, congratulated ECOWAS and Corridor Countries for attaining the important milestone of inaugurating and onboarding the board of ALCoMA, which commences its operations.  The Bank highlighted the transformative potential of the project thus assured the Board and the ECOWAS Commission of the Banks commitment to ensure the financing of the construction phases of the Corridor Highway through multiple sources of financing mechanisms that is currently under consideration. He intimated that the Bank had already provided funds to cover the operations of the ALCoMA for the initial phases of its operation.

The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway, a 1,028-kilometer, a supranational highway connecting Côte d’Ivoire to Nigeria via Ghana, Togo, and Benin, is poised to become a key economic and industrial enabler in West Africa by 2030.