President of the African Development Bank (ADB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has revealed that that the bank has secured $15.6bn for the construction of the Lagos-Abidjan highway corridor, which would ease transportation across West Africa.
He made this announcement during the 2021 Africa Investment Forum virtual boardroom closing session on Thursday.
The AfDB president said, “The biggest deal for the boardroom is the $15.6bn deal for the Lagos-Abidjan highway corridor. The 46-lane highway corridor will connect Lagos, Cotonou, Lome, Accra and Abidjan.”
According to him, this project would support trade in West Africa, impacting the lives of over 500 million people, reducing transport costs and increasing intra-regional trade volume.
“It will support 75 per cent of the trade in the West African region. The project will impact the lives of over 500 million people. It would reduce transport cost by 48 per cent. It would increase intra-regional trade volume by 15 to 25 per cent. It would connect land-locked cities to port countries,” he added.
The AfDB president also said that the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa has been critical in supporting women’s businesses in Africa.
According to him, in 2021, the AfDB provided $450m in support of women businesses in Africa and in 2022, the Bank expects to provide $500m in support of women-owned businesses.
The AfDB will also be establishing a $1m AFAWA women advisory facility to support women with advisory services.
