Ministers of Works and Road Infrastructure of the five Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) involved in the
multi-million-dollar Lagos-Abidjan Corridor Highway Project are meeting
to put in motion activities towards the actualization of the project.
During
the meeting at the ECOWAS Commission’s Abuja headquarters the Ministers
from Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Togo are expected to adopt
some key decisions on the 1 028-km road project linking some of the
region’s major capital cities and ports.
The decisions are set to be presented to the forthcoming ECOWAS Heads of State and Government Summit scheduled for March.
The
Ministers will among other issues, also discussing the responses from
firms invited to provide proposals as fund mobilisers, transaction
advisers and technical advisers for the project.
The Committee
late last year urged the five countries to contribute US$50 million in
“seed fund” to show their commitment to the speedy implementation of the
project, which comes under Phase I of the Lagos-Dakar regional
infrastructural development programme aimed at boosting trade as well as
free movement of persons, goods and services in the region.
The
Heads of State and Government approved the recommendation during a
meeting last month on sidelines the African Summit in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia.
