Nairobi — The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina says the Bank is mobilizing 3.5 to 5 billion dollars for the Liberty Corridor linking Liberia and the Republic of Guinea.
In a stunning revelation in his opening speech at the Bank's 2024 Annual Meeting which was held in Nairobi, Kenya, Dr. Adesina announced, among a list of other initiatives on the African continent, that the Bank is, "mobilizing $3.5 billion to $5 billion towards the development of the Liberty corridor to link Liberia and Guinea." His speech was delivered on Wednesday, May 29, 2024, at the Kenyatta International Conference Center.
Among other initiatives outlined by Dr. Adesina were the raising of $3.2 billion by the AfDB for the East Africa standard gauge railway connecting Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi; providing $500 million towards the development of the Lobito corridor to link Zambia, Angola and the DRC; and mobilizing $375 million for financing the railway linking Nigeria to Niger Republic.
Another was the Bank's engagement with partners of the Africa Investment Forum to mobilize $15.6 billion of investment commitment towards the development of the Lagos-Abidjan corridor.
Touting his Bank as a solution and impact-driven bank, the AfDB Leader declared that the African Development Bank Group is in a very strong financial shape ready to contribute to major development projects on the Continent.
He projected that Africa's real GDP growth will rise from 3.1% in 2023 to 3.7% in 2024, and up to 4.3% in 2025, noting that "African economies are showing resilience, despite the challenges posed by climate change, geopolitical tensions, global inflation and rising debt, among others."
The resources being raised by the Bank for the Liberty Corridor Project will heavily impact the consortium of investors led by HPX and Guma Group which are champions of the undertaking.
The Project envisages the construction of a multi-user railway line connecting the Buchanan Port with HPX's iron ore mining concession in Guinea. The Project will also include the expansion of the Port facilities in Buchanan.
Both during and after the construction phase, the Project is expected to create thousands of high paying jobs for Liberians. The Project is an integrated rail with deep seaport, energy, telecommunications, and fiber optic development corridor.
It is anticipated that the Government of Liberia will generate resources in tax revenue from this project when completed. As a multiuser facility, it is expected to serve as a harbinger for regional trade between Liberia, Guinea and land-locked Mali.
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This announcement serves as a boost and major support to President Boakai's Infrastructural Pillar of the ARREST Agenda.
On the margins of the AfDB Annual Meeting, members of the Liberian Delegation had an engagement with the Chairman and CEO of the GUMA Group, Mr. Robert Gumede, as well as senior representatives of key multilateral financial institutions such as the Kuwati Fund for Economic development, the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund for International Development, and Arab Bank for Economic Development (BADEA).
The meetings with these three international financial institutions were preliminary on the financing of the Gbarnga-Salayea-Voinjama Road Pavement Project. Bilateral talks were also held with officials of the United States Treasury Department.
