Nigeria has revealed that the Trans-Saharan highway projects would be completed soon to improve regional economic and cultural integration in Africa. The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, gave this assurance recently when he led the members of the Trans-Saharan Road Liaison Committee (TRLC), who were in Abuja to attend the 70th session of the TRLC, at the Julius Berger site of the Abuja-Kano Road works.
Trans-Saharan highway project
Fashola explained that the first project is the Lagos-Dakar highway, which passes through Seme border, and connects to Dakar, Senegal. The second is the Lagos-Mumbasa, which links Nigeria through Yaounde in Cameroon. The third is the Lagos-Algiers highway which covers over 9,000km; and 80% of that road is now asphalted.
Fashola also recalled that in the distant past, 80% of the roads that the project entails used to be utilized by camels and horses but are now motorable, saying that this was indeed great progress.
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Trans-African highway
The Minister also said that it was very useful for every African to be aware of the existence of a trans-African highway plan which seeks to connect the whole of Africa right from Cape Town up to Tunisia, either by driving through the East African border, or the West African border or through the center of Africa.
“There is a coast to coast connectivity from the West to the East of Africa to the Northeast of Africa to the Northwest of Africa, and the South-west of Africa to East Africa. A total of nine highways at different stages of connection are meant to achieve this connectivity and it is important for Nigerians to understand that three of these Highways pass through the territory of Nigeria out of those nine,” he concluded.
