Construction of Abidjan-Dakar Highway gains pace

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The construction of Abidjan-Dakar Highway is set to kick off after the experts drawn from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agreed to ensure that the projects kick off.

In the recent meeting that was held as from March 1, 2017 the experts gave an update about implementation status of the highway.

The project is set to involve the construction of a six-lane road to connect seven coastal countries in West Africa will end today in Monrovia.

The experts are also expected to present a draft architecture design of the road outlook and adopt a final report, which they will take to a ministerial meeting at a later date.

According to the officials the project was dabbed as “Dakar-Abidjan Road Corridor,” as it will begin from Dakar, Senegal to Abidjan, the Ivory Coast, is estimated at US$13 billion.

Countries to benefit along the West African coast will include La Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, The Gambia and Senegal.

This is one of the longest road project that is set for the African market and more so in the west African countries and will be commissioned soon.

This project, according to Dr. Antoinette Weeks, Commissioner for Infrastructure for ECOWAS Commission, is part of the Trans-Africa Highway that begins from Lagos, Nigeria to Abidjan.

The other side of the Trans-Africa Highway, which has already been constructed, covers Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin, Togo and Nigeria.

Phase I of this major infrastructural meeting was held in Banjul, the Gambia where a treaty that will be binding on all member states to contribute in every way to the construction was drafted.

They added that the funds for the project will be collectively funded by the ECOWAS and the rest will be donated by the counties that will be beneficiaries of the project.