Leaders of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo have signed the Treaty formally establishing the ECOWAS Abidjan-Lagos Corridor in further demonstration of their determination to operationalize the 1025-kilometre road project linking the region’s major commercial cities and ports.
The treaty which was signed on the final day of the just-concluded 44th summit of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire, requires the five countries to construct and manage the 6-lane road and establish a corridor management authority with a supra-national status.
The project is expected to facilitate the safe and efficient movement of persons and goods, stimulate socio-economic development, transfer of the corridor into a platform for development and a tool for accelerating economic growth of the countries involved.
To realise these objectives, the affected Member States agreed under the treaty to develop and harmonise their trade and transport facilitation procedures along the corridor in nine identified areas including maritime port facilities, routes and facilities, customs control, immigration, police and other agencies.
They are also to develop and harmonise procedures for routes and facilities, documentation, transport of goods by road, rail and other means, multimodal transport of goods, corridor development, handling of hazardous materials and measures to facilitate the work of transit agencies.
The five countries have already pledged to contribute 50 million US dollars for preparatory activities for the project which has attracted significant donor interest.
The corridor accounts for 70 per cent of the commercial traffic in the ECOWAS region making it a major tool for facilitating the implementation of the region’s flagship protocol on the free movement of persons, goods and right of residence and establishment.
