AfDB Group Approves FCFA 24 Billion for Benin Road Project

15 April 2010
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African Development Bank (Abidjan)
press release

Tunis — The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional window of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has approved a CFAF 23.9 Billion loan and grant to Benin to finance a road project linking the country with its neighbours.

The ADF funding covers 91.40% of the total cost of the project, estimated at CFAF 26.15 billion. It comprises a CFAF 15.74-billion grant and a CFAF 8.16-billion loan.

The Ndali-Nikki-Chicandou-Nigerian Border Road Project involves the development and asphalting of a 77-km stretch, ancillary works and specific actions for women. It is scheduled for completion in June 2013.

The project's overall goal is to open up the country, strengthen regional integration and increase regional trade within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The specific objectives are to improve the movement of goods and people on the Ndali-Nikki-Chicandou-Nigeria road and the Lamakara (Togo)-Ouaké-Ndali-Chicanda-Ilorin axes; as well as improve the living conditions of the communities in the project impact area.

The project's key deliverables include:

Reduced vehicle operating costs;

Reduction in the loss of human lives and perishable products as a result of the time saved in patient evacuation and transportation, respectively;

Better access to local and regional markets for agricultural produce.

The road project is part of Benin's strategic road axes connecting the hinterland countries; the Cotonou Port and the WAEMU inter-state highways. The Ndali-Nikki-Chicandou-Nigerian Border Road forms part of the Lamakara-Ndali-Chicandou-Nigerian border transit corridor, which links Togo to Nigeria, stretching across the entire breadth of Benin. The Bank's intervention responds to a dire need to ensure traffic flow between the Cotonou Port and hinterland countries, and to reinforce Benin's transit role in improving trade between Nigeria and Togo.

The Ndali-Nikki-Chicandou-Nigerian Border Road will help develop regional integration by connecting to the Nigerian network through the Chicanda-Ilorin (Kwara State) Road which forms part of the WAEMU priority network, in line with the Bank's 2008-2012 Mid-Term Strategy.

Read the original article on African Development Bank (AfDB).

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