AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK AND ECOWAS COMMENCES JOINT IDENTIFICATION MISSIONS TO CORRIDOR MEMBER STATES TO ENGAGE INITIATE FINANCING DISCUSSIONS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE 1028KM 6-LANE ABIDJAN-LAGOS HIGHWAY
05 May, 2026Following the completion of the economic and technical studies for the 6-lane dual carriage supranational Abidjan-Lagos corridor highway, the project has advanced to the investment stage, and the realization of visionary economic corridor is in clear sight.
This flagship regional economic corridor project includes the construction of a Highway extending over 1028 km linking the main economic centers of West Africa, namely Abidjan, Accra, Lomé, Cotonou and Lagos; opening up of corridor-wide economic centers (industrial, manufacturing and related economic zones, logistical hubs,) to support regional integration, tourism, and industrialization through corridor value chains with enhanced production capacity; as well as interventions to enhance the free movement of trade and transport long the corridor.
In a bid to raise the required financing for the construction, operation and maintenance the African Development Bank (AfDB), the main financier (Mandatory Lead Arranger) for the project is embarking on a joint project identification mission with the ECOWAS Commission, ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) and the ECOWAS Project Preparation and Development Unit (PPDU), to the five corridor countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria.
The mission led by Mr. Mike Salawou, Director of Infrastructure and Urban Development at the AfDB, and Mr. Chris Appiah, Director of Transport at ECOWAS, will engage from 8th to 24th April, Ministers of Finance and Road Infrastructure Ministers, and their technical teams with an aim to secure the commitments of respective governments for the investment phase of the highway construction, while engaging road infrastructure authorities and engineers on the technical design elements with particular attention to the environmental and social impact mitigation components. This Identification Mission marks the commencement of the Bank’s process to securing concessionary financing, to leverage private sector investment towards the construction and management of the Abidjan-Lagos Highway.
In accordance with the Corridor Treaty signed by Presidents and Heads of State of the five (5) corridor Member States, the highway is being designed, constructed and operated as a single whole “ONE ROAD”. In this regard, Abidjan-Lagos Corridor has been designed as a borderless economic corridor, which will progressively be operated without the physical land borders
between these neighbouring Countries. Additionally, the Pres-idents through the Corridor Treaty, created a supra-national Corridor Body, the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Management Authority (ALCoMA), with representatives from the corridor Countries to design, construct and man-age the corridor, as a single unit.
The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Program, a major initiative and flagship by the leaders of the five countries, and aims to transform the Abidjan-Lagos transport corridor into an integrated economic corridor re-moving barriers to trade and transport, facilitating movement of people and goods, Improve Business environment, Reducing the cost of transport, ensuring better connection between consumption and production areas, Facilitating access to basic social services, schools and health centers and reducing poverty.
With the commitment of the respective governments secured, the funding request will be presented to the Borad of the African Development Bank in May 2026.
