The Economic Community of West African States and the African Development Bank Group held a two-day orientation and information session in Abidjan to welcome the 10-member Board of Directors of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Management Authority.

The session, held on February 19-20, 2026, is part of the Authority's operational rollout following the board's official swearing-in in December 2025 at the 22nd Ministerial Steering Committee meeting of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Development Project.

The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway, which spans 1,028 km, is intended to be a revolutionary regional infrastructure that will connect five West African nations and position itself as a significant generator of trade and industrial growth by 2030.

Participants were informed on the Corridor Treaty, which describes the project's vision, supranational framework, and strategic objectives, as approved by the Heads of State of Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria.

The programming also included talks on trade and transportation facilitation, spatial development, value chains, logistics systems, and significant economic hub projects, as well as conclusions from technical studies on the planned highway.

Board members assessed the corridor's institutional and legal framework, which included the treaty, intergovernmental agreements, and proposed international instruments establishing the highway and its management authority.

The Board also conducted an initial review of its rules of procedure, charter, and the recruitment framework for the Director-General, administrators, and technical staff.

Leading the ECOWAS delegation, Director of Transport Chris Appiah emphasized the value of an integrated economic corridor model that blends infrastructure development with trade facilitation and socio-economic growth.

He called on stakeholders “to spare no effort in bringing this project to fruition,” noting that a seamless cross-border highway would greatly accelerate regional development.

The Director of the African Development Bank Group’s Infrastructure and Urban Development Department,

Mike Salawou, praised ECOWAS and member states for operationalizing the Authority and reaffirmed the bank’s role as the mandated lead arranger.

He noted that the bank would work with the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development and other partners to mobilize funding for the project.

The African Development Bank Group has mobilized approximately €600 million for the project, with additional support of €103 million from the Japan International Cooperation Agency and €6.4 million from the Global Environment Facility.