The Abidjan- Lagos Trans Africa High Way:A Model for the Push of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement
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By:Douglas Ogbankwa Esq.@douglasogbankwa.com
The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) is a unique Agreement signed by 55 African Countries in 2021 to push for free trade among African countries .In practice ,African Leaders are paying lip service to the simulation of free trade .Unlike the European Union which uses a common currency, a common passport and have a borderless diplomacy spectrum, the Conferences of the African Union is more or less , an avenue for talk shops of small talks of empty rhetorics.
The African Development Bank however has put a visionary project in place to walk the talk .The Abidjan-Lagos Trans Africa Corridor.The 6 to 8 lanes road is part of the ECOWAS Vision 2050.It provides multiple opportunities to provide a leverage to achieve the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA).
It will open up West Africa to East Africa and provide a road network to Port Hubs in about 5 West African Countries. It ordinarily was open port cities to the landlocked Mali,Burkina Faso and Niger.However , their recent exit from ECOWAS means that they may be excepted from the project.
The Project which commences in 2026 , will be completed in 2030.It has the potentials to create about 70,000 direct and indirect jobs.The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Implementation Authority will drive the process , with collaboration with Transport Chiefs at ECOWAS and AfDB.
There is so much excitement in the air , as this a huge leap in the practical approach to regional integration. If other sub regional bodies like the SADC,the Maghreb States and the Esat and Central Africa Union , carry out similar sub regional integration projects with a synchronised standard, the African Continental Free Trade Agreement becomes easier, especially if we adopt a visa free regime to drive free movement and trade.
The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor forms the first phase of the Dakar-Lagos Trans-West African Coastal Corridor (Trans-Africa Highway Number 7), which is planned to link West Africa to Central and Eastern Africa (Dakar-Lagos-Yaounde-Bangui-Kampala-Nairobi to Mombassa. The Dakar-Abidjan-Lagos Corridor is a key priority project under the trans-African highway of the ECOWAS region, whose development is part of the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA). The Abidjan-Lagos section is located on the eastern-west coastal axis of the West African Region and covers five (5) ECOWAS Member Countries, namely Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria It covers approximately 1, 080 kilometers and has eight (8) border crossing points (four country-pair land borders). The current alignment of the corridor crosses all the major economic centers and capital cities of the five Member Countries from “Place de la République” in Abidjan and ends at Mile 2 (Eric Moore) in Lagos.
About the Author:
Douglas Ogbankwa Esq., is a Global Affairs Analyst
