In Banjul, Republic of The Gambia, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) convened a technical workshop, from 26 to 28 February 2025, on the ‘Praia-Dakar-Abidjan Multimodal Corridor’ project, to evaluate and validate the Interim Report of the Dakar-Abidjan Highway Alignment Study. This 3,164-kilometre highway project, with 600 kilometres of maritime connection, connects eight Member States of ECOWAS: Cabo Verde, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire. This highway connects the five other Member States along the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor: Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria.
Over the course of 3 days, road engineers from the eight Member States along the corridor, the ECOWAS Commission, the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) will have to determine the optimal and economically feasible route for the Praia-Dakar-Abidjan supranational highway in each Member State, based on a multi-criteria analysis comprising technical, economic, environmental, connectivity and social elements, as well as the impact of the section on the territorial development.
At this meeting, the participants are also assessing the alignment of the Corridor in relation to the current state of the road network, considering current and planned rehabilitation and construction programmes in the affected area. Also, on the experts’ agenda are (i) confirmation of alignment with each Member State and the Corridor as a whole, (ii) preparation of the terms of reference for the techno-economic feasibility and environmental and social impact studies for the project, and (iii) a preliminary estimate of the costs of the studies required.
In his opening remarks, the Director of Transport of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr Chris APPIAH, reminded Member State Experts that the year 2025 marks the 50th Anniversary of ECOWAS. He enjoined participants and Community citizens celebrate the significant achievements, especially the attainment of the free movement of persons and goods, infrastructure developments in energy (regional electricity market, renewable energy, etc), digital economy (free regional roaming), transport, the existence of an operational ECOWAS Free Trade regime (ETLS) which makes it possible for products manufactured in the region to be circulated within Member States with no customs duties, and other modest achievements in regional health and social interventions, as well as joint peace and security measures. He urged participants to bear these regional objectives in mind while they recommend pragmatic solutions to fast-track the achievement of the Integration agenda through the implementation of revolutionary projects such as the Praia-Dakar-Abidjan-Lagos development corridor.
Once achieved, the transformed corridor will further facilitate the free movement of people and goods and regional integration, reduce barriers to trade and promote access to international markets. By developing such infrastructure, the West African region hopes to increase its competitiveness on the world stage, benefit from the Africa Continental Free Trade Area and improve the quality of life of its citizens, by reducing inequalities and improving access to economic opportunities.
The Praia-Dakar-Abidjan Corridor is the first part of the Trans-African Highway (TAH) Coastal Corridor, which starts from Cabo Verde, passing through Dakar in Senegal, Banjul, Bissau, Conakry, Free Town, Abidjan, Accra, Lome, Cotonou and ends in Lagos (TAH7), Nigeria. There are plans to link it to Central and East Africa, ending in Mombasa in Kenya (TAH8). The corridor project was confirmed and supported by the adoption of Supplementary Act A/SA.3/06/17 at the 51st Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in Monrovia, Liberia in June 2017, and an additional Supplementary Act in December 2018 to cover Praia-Dakar maritime component. These were translated into a Corridor Treaty signed by the Presidents of the eight Member States involved, with components including (i) the establishment of a maritime transport service between Praia and Dakar and the neighbouring ports of Banjul and Bissau, (ii) the construction of a highway from Dakar to Abidjan via Banjul, Bissau, Conakry, Freetown and Monrovia.
The 3,164 km long project also has very active components in terms of economic development, regional planning and trade and transport facilitation. These elements offer the project the potential to stimulate economic growth and development, as well as to strengthen the integration of the countries involved and of the ECOWAS region.
The study phase of the project, to determine the optimal route, is being jointly financed by ECOWAS and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
