Ministers from Nigeria and four neighbouring countries are due to discuss financing for the Lagos-Abidjan highway on Friday, 30 October. Nigeria’s Minister of Works, David Umahi, announced the planned meeting after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council session in Abuja.
Umahi said the discussions would involve Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, with the African Development Bank expected to provide loans for participating countries’ sections. The proposed arrangements remain subject to negotiations; the announcement does not establish that construction loans have been approved or disbursed.
The Guardian reported that Umahi would chair the talks. Voice of Nigeria also reported his announcement of Friday’s meeting, following the council session presided over by President Bola Tinubu.
The corridor links Lagos with Cotonou, Lomé, Accra and Abidjan. ECOWAS describes it as a regional economic project combining a highway with transport and trade facilitation, logistics facilities and connections to industrial and manufacturing centres.
Its plans extend beyond road construction. The regional body says the corridor is intended to support the movement of goods and people between the five countries, alongside tourism and production networks. Those are project objectives, rather than measured benefits already delivered by a completed motorway.
The latest financing discussions follow preparatory work involving the bank, ECOWAS and national governments. In April, the AfDB said a joint mission had visited the corridor countries from 9 to 24 April to mobilise financial commitments for construction, operation and maintenance.
That delegation held discussions with roads and finance officials, regional development banks and private-sector institutions. Technical consultations also addressed road design and measures to reduce environmental and social impacts.
The bank said it had provided $25 million in technical assistance for the preparatory phase. With feasibility studies completed, it described the project as entering its investment phase, ahead of the proposed six-lane transnational motorway.
Financing preparations have also covered costs beyond the physical road. The AfDB’s April account recorded ECOWAS Transport Director Chris Appiah stressing the need for adequate financing, including support for land acquisition and viability gaps.
The participating countries have established the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Management Authority to oversee development of the route. According to the AfDB, their corridor treaty provides for the highway to be built and operated as a single unified asset.
At the authority’s first board meeting in Lagos on 11 and 12 June, members appointed Beninois finance expert Wilfried Lauriano do Rego as chairman for a two-year term. They also established interim finance and human-resources committees to support the authority’s start-up work.
The board approved the AfDB’s participation as a non-voting member, recognising its role in financing technical studies and arranging investment. The bank said this work involved collaboration with the authority, ECOWAS and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development.
The AfDB’s June update described ongoing discussions to mobilise $500 million in catalytic capital, alongside other possible financing instruments. It did not present those discussions as a completed funding package for the entire highway.
The forthcoming ministerial meeting therefore follows earlier efforts to organise financing and governance. Umahi’s announcement set Friday as the date for further talks, without announcing final loan terms or a new construction-completion date for the regional corridor.
Archive location photograph: Lagos-Badagry expressway, 17 June 2025. Yemi festus / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized by WordPress. Photograph adaptations shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. This is not a photograph of Friday’s talks or a completed regional motorway. Source | Licence
