Approval on May 21 covers financing for rehabilitation of 78.8 kilometres of road between Kara and Kabou along the Benin-Togo border under the first phase of the Transit Roads and Transport Facilitation Project on the CU18 corridor.
The project is co-financed by the ADF, the concessional lending arm of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), the Islamic Development Bank, the West African Economic and Monetary Union, and the governments of Togo and Benin.
Of the total African Development Fund financing, $50.28 million has been allocated to the Togolese section of the corridor, while the Beninese section will receive $9.5 million.
AfDB Director General for West Africa Lamin Barrow said the corridor would strengthen economic competitiveness, speed up the opening of inland areas in Benin and Togo, and deepen sub-regional integration.
The project includes upgrading of the corridor from the Benin border at Ouaké through Kémérida, Soundjina, Kara, Djamdé and Kabou into a 3.5-metre dual carriageway, with a six-lane section through the city of Kara.
The programme also includes construction and rehabilitation of socio-economic and educational infrastructure, stronger transport services and logistics along the corridor, and measures aimed at reducing trade barriers and improving traffic flow.
Additional components include capacity-building programmes for project implementing agencies, women’s groups, and youth employment initiatives.
Road users, local residents, women and producers are expected to benefit from the project. Poor road conditions and high transport costs have for years, constrained economic activity and mobility in the region.
Women engaged in cross-border commerce and market gardening have faced a disproportionate burden from weak transport links and high costs, making the corridor a significant route for trade facilitation and local economic access.
The financing places the Benin-Togo border section within a wider regional integration agenda centred on transport efficiency, lower barriers to movement, and improved links between inland areas and commercial routes in West Africa.
–AfDB/ChannelAfrica–
