Côte d'Ivoire Commits to the Abidjan-Dakar Highway Project

Following the highway connecting Abidjan to Lagos, the Ivorian government approved on September 30th the ratification of a treaty for the construction of a multimodal corridor, linking the Ivorian capital to Dakar and then to Praia, the capital of Cape Verde.

This project, which will stretch over 3,164 km, including 600 km of maritime links, will, starting from Abidjan, pass through Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, and Senegal, where there will be a maritime route to Cape Verde. Although the cost and duration of the project have not yet been specified, it is expected that each country will take responsibility for constructing the section of the highway within its territory.

On the Ivorian side, the route, spanning 790 km, will start from Abidjan, passing through Yamoussoukro in the center, then through the cities of Daloa, Guiglo, and Toulepleu, ending at the Liberian border. In Abidjan, it will connect to the Abidjan-Lagos highway project, which is 1,028 km long and is mainly financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB). The Abidjan-Lagos project will also cross Ghana and Togo.

In the long term, all West African capitals and major cities bordering the Gulf of Guinea, almost all of which have ports, will be connected by a major highway stretching from Lagos in the east, crossing ten countries, to the tip of Dakar in the west. These initiatives are part of a broader effort by West African countries to strengthen their transport infrastructure, thus stimulating economic development and facilitating access to markets, in line with the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Furthermore, it should be noted that Côte d'Ivoire is also engaged in the Abidjan-Ouagadougou route, which will ultimately boost trade with the countries of the Sahel region.

 Source Sika Finance