ECOWAS to sign Abidjan/Lagos highway treaty at summit

The signing of a treaty for the Abidjan-Lagos corridor ECOWAS to sign Abidjan/Lagos highway treaty at summit project treaty, is to be top on the agenda of the Summit of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government.

Mr Sunny Ugoh, Assistant Director of Communication, ECOWAS made this known on Wednesday in Abuja.

Ugoh said that the summit scheduled for March in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire, would also feature the signing of joint member states request for African Development Bank (AfDB) funding.

“The funding will cover certain aspects of the six-lane highway project expected to carry about 75 per cent of goods transported within the region,’’ Ugoh said.

Ugoh said that Member states’ seed funds contribution formula for the project would also be determined during the summit.

He said that these items were drawn from the decisions reached during the briefing of presidents by the steering chairman of the project, Nigeria’s Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen.

The briefing took place at the just concluded African Union summit in Addis Ababa.

Ugoh said that the Onolememen and the Minister of Economics Infrastructure of Cote d’Ivoire, would also to attend the summit.

Others are Ministers Public Works and Transport of Benin, Public Works,Togo and Roads and Highway, Ghana.

It will be recalled that five ECOWAS member states involved in the Abidjan-Lagos road corridor project agreed to contribute 50 million U.S. dollars (about N8.2 billion) for the speedy construction of the project.

The steering committee, however, agreed that the money was for preparatory activities for the project that would contribute in strengthening the implementation of the region’s integration programme.