The Boards of the African Development Bank Group have approved funding of €48 million from the African Development Fund (ADF) for the reconstruction of the border road from Guinea to Sierra Leone.
The project, jointly funded by the African Development Fund, the European Union and the Government of Guinea, will reconstruct, enlarge and improve 75km of the road, including bridge structures, between the Coyah area in Guinea and the border with Sierra Leone. This part of the highway has become severely dilapidated with the maintenance threshold being neglected due to the effects of conflict and the Ebola epidemic, prompting the need for urgent reconstruction.
The project will introduce interconnectivity of customs information between the two countries, joint import-export controls and capacity building for customs administration in Guinea. New road safety measures will be introduced, including the monitoring of lorry axle-weights.
The project is in line with the AfDB's Ten-Year Strategy for 2013-2022 in terms of boosting infrastructure and promoting regional integration in Africa.
The road reconstruction also contributes to the AfDB's High 5 strategic priorities through increasing integration and industrialization in Africa. It will also improve the quality of life of Africans through substantial direct employment during the four-year reconstruction period, increasing trade, reducing poverty and consolidating peace and security in Guinea and Sierra Leone. Additionally, it will contribute to the 'Feed Africa' High 5 by creating access roads to farming areas where crops such as rice, cassava, corn, tubers, palm oil and fruit are produced.
The reconstruction of this segment follows earlier Bank funding in 2005 and 2009 for improvements on the Conakry-Coyah-Farmoréah-Pamalap-Freetown road, which is part of Trans-African Highway 7 (Dakar-Lagos Corridor).
The ADF contribution consists of a loan of €26.62 million and a grant of €21.4 million. In addition to the total ADF funding of €48.02 million, the European Union is providing a grant of €29.6 million and the Government of Guinea is contributing €460.000, bringing the total cost to €78.08 million
The African Development Bank is one of Guinea's biggest development partners in the transport sector.
