Lagos-Abidjan corridor to boost trade in West Africa

The Lagos-Abidjan corridor, for which funding has been secured, is expected to boost trade in West Africa and have a significant impact on the economies in the region.

The Lagos-Abidjan corridor is a 1,028-km highway project that will connect the capitals of five coastal countries, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria, accounting for more than 75 percent of West Africa’s trade.

The Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) signed an agreement for the six-lane Abidjan-Lagos corridor development project in 2019.

Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank Group, said the corridor would be the most important infrastructure project in West Africa, and would facilitate free movement and trade in the region.

The corridor is starting from Bingerville, in the eastern suburbs of Abidjan, and ends in Lagos Mile 2 (Eric Moore), straddling eight border crossings, Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)-Takoradi (Ghana), 295 km; Takoradi (Ghana)-Akanu (Ghana), 466 km; and Noepe (Togo)-Cotonou (Benin)-Lagos (Nigeria).

Madu Obiora, CEO of Multimix Group and Director General of African Centre for Supply Chain, said the corridor would bring inward advantage to facilitate trade, and enhance trade relationships.

As for the exports, Nigeria appears to play a dominant position by making 41 percent of transactions, 18 percent in Ghana, 10 percent for Côte d’Ivoire for the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).

Nigeria and Ghana together perform 59 percent of the community’s imports for the eight countries of WAEMU.

Obiora highlighted the importance of the corridor but indicated that it depends on how Nigeria is able to trade locally to gain the benefit from it.

“It will benefit, but it depends on great we are to trade locally, it depends on how we attribute to trade diversification, and trade compliance. The road is there, those who are ready to use it will use it and make the gain from it, and those who are not ready will also gain in their way,” he said.

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According to a report by the African Development Bank, the linking of some of Africa’s largest and economically dynamic cities through the road will promote cross-border trade and integrate fast-growing economies within the ECOWAS.

Obiora also said the road would not use itself, it is the people that use the road, but the stability is there to bring inward advantage to facilitate trade.

The major export products of the West African Economic Community provided mainly by Nigeria represent three-quarters (75 percent) of exports (excluding re-exports), cocoa and cocoa food preparations (5 percent of exports), precious stones (3 percent) and secondarily cotton, edible fruit, rubber, plastics, wood and wood products, fish and shellfish (about 1 percent each), form together with fuel.

In 2019, Nigeria exported goods worth N949.45 billion, contributing to 19.9 percent of its GDP to Africa, within which African goods worth N582.3 billion were exported to ECOWAS member states.

Nigeria earned N144.8 billion from export to ECOWAS countries and N551.1 billion from shipping out products to Africa in the fourth quarter of 2020 after the borders were shut in 2019.

By the fourth quarter of 2021, exports to the whole of Africa were estimated to be N773.83 billion, of which N250.52 billion worth of goods were exported to ECOWAS countries.

Obiora said it’s not only the infrastructure that will improve trade but it is a very significant improvement on the ECOWAS trade jurisdiction.