Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) recently approved $50 million for  the preliminary studies and design of the six-lane trans-West African highway project from Lagos to Abidjan. This project when completed will link Ghana, Benin Republic and Togo.

The approval of the project was an off shoot of a meeting held with ECOWAS Ministers of Works and Infrastructure, which was chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan. The meeting was an attachment to the ongoing 22nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Mr Mike Onolememen, Chairman of the Ministerial Project Steering Committee and Minister of Works, said the $50 million, which is a contribution by the ECOWAS states, would accelerate the road project set to flag off in the first quarter of this year. He said $16 million of the money will come from African Development Bank (ADB).

The minister said: “The feasibility studies are going to be far in excess of $50 million, so the AfDB offered that they have this money, that is the remaining 16 million US dollars to contribute towards raising the total money for the design.

“Now for the full design to be paid for, we actually look forward to getting additional funds from development partners and multinational agencies. But to show commitment from member-states, that is why we are requesting the seed money of $50 million.Nigerian alone provides 50 per cent of the population of the sub-region. So that means manufacturers and businessmen in our country will now have unfettered access to the vast markets of ECOWAS,” he added.

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