The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Development Bank Group have held a two-day orientation and information session to induct the 10-member Board of Directors of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Management Authority (ALCoMA).

Stretching 1,028 kilometres, the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway is envisioned as a transformative regional infrastructure linking five West African economies and serving as a key industrial and trade driver by 2030.

The sessions held in Abidjan on February 19 and 20, form part of the operational rollout of the Authority following the Board’s official swearing-in in December 2025 during the 22nd Ministerial Steering Committee meeting of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Development Project.

Participants were introduced to the Corridor Treaty, which sets out the project’s vision, supranational status, and strategic objectives endorsed by the Heads of State of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria.

The programme also reviewed findings from technical studies of the planned highway, alongside presentations on trade and transport facilitation, spatial development initiatives, value chains, logistics systems, and anchor economic hub projects.Board members examined the institutional and legal framework governing the corridor project, including the treaty, intergovernmental agreements, and draft international instruments establishing both the highway and its management authority. The Board also undertook an initial review of its rules of procedure, charter, and the recruitment process for the Director General, administrators, and technical staff.

Leading the ECOWAS delegation, Chris Appiah, Director of Transport, underscored the importance of the integrated economic corridor model that combines infrastructure development with trade facilitation and socio-economic advancement. He urged stakeholders “to spare no effort to make this project a reality in the near future,” noting that a seamless cross-border highway would accelerate the region’s development.

Mike Salawou, Director for the Infrastructure and Urban Development Department at the African Development Bank Group, commended ECOWAS and participating countries for operationalising the Authority and reaffirmed the Bank’s role as mandated lead arranger.

He said the Bank would work alongside the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) and other partners to mobilise financing for the project. “Our fellow citizens are waiting for us to move along this corridor, to carry out their socioeconomic activities and facilitate trade in our sub-region,” he stated.

As part of the session, delegates visited the fourth-largest bridge project in Abidjan that has significantly eased congestion, particularly for residents of Yopougon, the country’s most populous municipality with an estimated two million inhabitants. The African Development Bank Group mobilised about €600 million for the project, leveraging additional support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Global Environment Facility, which contributed €103 million and €6.4 million, respectively.

The Bank Group has played a catalytic role in the project’s preparation, providing technical assistance and $25 million in early-stage support as feasibility and structuring activities near completion.

(Buisness Day)