Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Member States and Development Partners Commit to Tapping into the $6.8 Billion Potential Investment through Economic Anchor Projects in the Energy, Automotive, Tourism, Industry, Manufacturing and Related Strategic Infrastructure
11 November 2024: Technical experts, engineers, sector experts, and specialists from the ECOWAS Commission and Agencies, Development Partners, along with representatives from Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Member States, held a three-day Validation Workshop for the Draft Final Report of the Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) Study for the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Development Project. The experts lauded the findings of the study, which has, among others, unveiled a potential $6.8 billion investment prepared and ready to be implemented to unlock economic growth and enhance the viability of the Corridor Highway.
The overall objective of the Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) Study for the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Development Project is to identify and unlock the inherent and latent economic potential (short, medium, and long-term) and commercial viability of economic and industrial value chain projects. These economic projects, once implemented, will also generate trade volumes and traffic to augment the viability of the highway.
The consortium made up of CPCS, Holland and Hausberge, and Comete used the SDI approach to identify specific infrastructure interventions within a 200km catchment area of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor with high potential to unlock private sector investment in high-opportunity sectors and projects. The workshop considered three types of projects along the corridor, namely ‘Economic Anchor’ Projects, ‘Strategic Infrastructure’ Projects, and ‘Densification and Deepening’ Projects.
Through the SDI approach, the Commission and Corridor Countries endorsed recommendations from the consultants for projects in oil and gas, agriculture, wildlife, fisheries, and tourism, with forward and backward linkages to the corridor highway. The project identification and shortlisting followed rigorous criteria covering contribution to regional integration, financial, economic, social, and environmental justification, readiness for implementation, synergies with national master plans and policies, as well as forward and backward linkages.
The projects are categorised into Economic Anchor Projects (industries, value addition companies, free zones, etc.); Strategic Infrastructure Projects (roads, railways, multimodal interchanges, ports, etc.); and Economic Deepening and Densification. Some major catalytic anchor projects are the Remo Economic Industrial Cluster, Nigeria, Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ), Benin, Adétikopé Industrial Zone Cluster in Togo, Greater Kumasi Industrial City, Ghana, and PK 24 Industrial Hub in Côte d’Ivoire.
At the end of the exercise, a Corridor Investment Plan will be finalised, including 26 project clusters encompassing 78 shortlisted projects and 120 deepening and densifying projects, for a total of 206 projects, of which 27 are investment-ready and estimated at $6.8 billion in potential investment in the region.
The experts also visited several tolled bridges and roads in Abidjan for knowledge and experience sharing for the tolling strategy envisaged for the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway.
The final draft reports for the Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) Study under the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Development Project were validated by the Corridor Countries during this gathering, demonstrating a commitment to unlock the inherent and latent economic potential of the corridor. This demonstrates the commitment of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Member States, ECOWAS Commission, with the support of Development Partners, to implementing the SDI, which will drive economic growth, foster regional integration, and unlock the corridor’s immense potential.
