EXPERTS MEET IN ABUJA ON THE ABIDJAN-LAGOS HIGHWAY REPORT AND DRAFT FRAMEWORK

Abuja 4^th May 2017 .Road Infrastructure and legal experts from the ECOWAS Abidjan – Lagos Corridor countries of Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo, are meeting in Abuja, Nigeria to validate the interim report and draft Institutional, Legal framework and communication documentation that will govern the management of the corridor in accordance with the Project Treaty signed by the Presidents of the five countries in 2014.

 The 2-Day workshop is meant among others, to build consensus on the institutional design of the Management Authority, drafts of the legal and institutional documents indicated in Article 6 of the “Project Treaty” which incorporates revisions suggested during national workshops and consultations as well as the development of communication tools for the enhancement of the visibility of the project among community citizens, development partners and potential investors.

Welcoming participants to the meeting, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure Dr. Antoinette G. Weeks, whose remarks was read by the Department of Infrastructure’s Transport Facilitation & Policy Expert Mr. Chris Appiah, on behalf of the President of the Commission Mr. Marcel de Souza, reminded them as ECOWAS Citizens of their common goal of ensuring the successful implementation of the project.

He urged them to take informed decisions on finalizing the draft Legal, Institutional and communication documents that will govern the management of the corridor.

The documents drafted for ECOWAS and the five Countries, by Gauff Consultants with funding from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammernarbeit (GIZ) under the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa, Priority Action Plan (PIDA – PAP) Service Delivery Mechanism were circulated in February 2017, reviewed by Corridor stakeholders and discussed at consultative workshops in each Corridor State in March 2017. Also publicity materials to create awareness on the Corridor have been prepared based on the comments received during the Inception Report Workshop and in follow-up meetings and field work in the Corridor States with guidance from the ECOWAS Communications Directorate.

These documents will be finalized and presented at a final Draft Validation Workshop in July, 2017. Once finalized and adopted by the Project Steering Committee, they will be presented to the Heads of State of the 5 Corridor Countries for their approval to enable the establishment and operationalization of the Corridor Management Authority.

The idea of developing a 6-line Highway with supra-national status was conceived by the presidents of the five corridor countries. They also agreed in the Project Treaty to implement the corridor project as a Single Unit under one management.