Liberia and neighboring Côte d'Ivoire will benefit from a US$15 million bridge project to connect the countries.
The project, which aims to promote cross-border trade, will be implemented by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in collaboration with the African Development Bank.
The project's commissioning ceremony took place at Plulo Border in Côte d'Ivoire on Thursday, October 3, 2024. It brought together representatives from ECOWAS, AIM LTD engineer and consultant Michael Ihimekpen, Liary Tao SCEGC Project manager, representatives of both governments and other regional stakeholders.
Acting Director of Transport of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Chris Appiah
The Acting Director of Transport of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Chris Appiah, says this is an initiative of the ECOWAS Commission, through its President, in collaboration with the African Development Bank, to give back to the 400 million people living within the West African region.
He emphasizes that ECOWAS wants to ease difficulties in movements along corridors of African countries beginning from Cape Verse, Gambia, Senegal, Guinea, Guinea Beusa, Liberia, and Ivory Coast and ending in Nigeria and Central Africa.
"So at the level of ECOWAS, we want to make sure these corridors are connected without missing lands in order for our citizens to have free movement and trade among themselves," Mr. Appiah adds.
"So as you can see, this area is one of the major missing Lands or corridors that starts from Dakar to Abuja, although there are other crossing points, this point of Cavalla is a major point," he notes.
The ECOWAS Director of Transport discloses that the African Development Bank has consented to finance the US$258M Cavalla River bridge and connecting roads so that citizens of both sides can freely move about and solidify regional trade and integration.
He further reveals that they have gone through a process of selecting contractors that was inclusive, with engineers from Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire participating in picking a contractor from China who has been awarded the contract for the construction of the bridge.
He adds that the project is expected to be completed in 24 months or two years, having introduced the site and met with outlining communities, border authorities, and all those involved with the initiative so that actual may start.
"We are also here with the engineers from Ivory Coast, and it's unfortunate engineers from Liberia aren't present, but perhaps they will join us because this project needs proper supervision on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis."
He underscores that ECOWAS is currently working with the two countries (Liberia and Ivory Coast) to ensure the project's success because its success depends on proper supervision.
"So to have it done, we have consultants from ECOWAS, and they are responsible for monitoring the contractors and making sure the contracts are done in accordance with the agreement."
He also discloses that ECOWAS is still pursuing its goal of integration despite political challenges, and they would ensure that the economic side, which has been put in place through infrastructure, is done to enable the Community to move and travel freely and act as one region.
He continues that the project is one of the major integration factors that ECOWAS needs to complete in order to bridge the gap on both sides of the region.
He points out that the designs of the bridge took into consideration all necessary site situations, design principles, and factors to avoid possible occurrences that had happened or that could affect the project.
"So as you can see from the site, it's a very difficult site however, but during the design period, several visits were paid on this site to access the level of the River and the nature of the terrain in order to build a design that will fate in this form", Mr. Appiah explains.
He continues that they have identified technical and engineering sites and believe the success of the project lies in the cooperation of the two countries. Construction materials for the bridge would be transported through the port of Liberia or Ivory Coast, and they will need the support of both countries to facilitate the clearance of materials to be taken to the project site.
He stresses that they are counting on Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire to provide supervision because supervision is the major factor in every engineering work, and both countries are to provide two engineers each to work with supervisors to ensure the project is done.
He reiterates that the project aims to create an economic union that will enable people to move freely, establish businesses in other African countries as if they were citizens of those countries, and intermarry.
According to him, over 400 Million people reside in West Africa, a big market that should allow one's products to be consumed if he/she is an entrepreneur and manufactures products for such a population. Still, for that to happen, there is a need for road connectivity within the ECOWAS region because roads do 90% of trading.
"So as ECOWAS tries to find all the missing lands in the road network, it has been a problem, and here's where the project comes to be able to break the constraints for the 400 Million people within the region because we know people are living within these countries are interdependence in terms of Education, Agriculture, Tourism, Environment, and all these Economic sectors; infrastructure is the main catalyst to have it done."
Meanwhile, Mr Appiah reveals that as part of ECOWAS' success stories, they have completed a US$400m bridge between Nigeria and Cameroon. Although Nigeria is in West Africa, and Cameroon is in Central Africa, the bridge was constructed between the two countries following thorough supervision before being turned over to the two countries.
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He says that because of that, trade within that region has improved. Hence, he believes if a similar thing is done here, it will further enhance regional trade and movements because ECOWAS believes in border crossing infrastructure, stressing that ECOWAS has been working with several countries to construct joint border posts, which is currently happening between Ghana and Togo, for which the two countries' border posts have been brought together to do checking at once, instead of checking or inspecting traders separately.
The director disclosed that the official groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for November and is expected to bring together President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and his counterpart from the Ivory Coast.
In response, the Project Manager of SHAANXI Construction Engineering Corporation LTD lauds ECOWAS and the team of delegates for the trust imposed in their company and promises that they will work within the timeframe set.
Manager David Leo emphasizes that the best and only way to complete the project smoothly is for both countries to provide support and cooperation.
Maryland County Superintendent Henry Cole applauds ECOWAS and delegates for such a promising opportunity, assuring that his office and the people of Liberia will do everything possible to provide support for the project.
Superintendent Cole is optimistic the project with bring total relief to his people, as they face difficulties in accessing goods and services from the neighboring country. Editing by Jonathan Browne
