The stretch of international roaad linking Nigeria’s economic hub, Lagos with Abidjan, the Ivorien capital would commence next year President Goodluck Jonathan intimated Saturday.
President Jonathan who disclosed this when he met with Cote d’Ivoire Investors Forum on the sideline of his state visit to that country, also explained that the funding of the project will be sourced from the private sector, development partners and banks, who will get return on their investment by levying tariffs and tolls on users.According to him, the need to concentrate on the construction of the road was necessary to facilitate trans-border movement of goods and persons and reduce the proliferation of local customs and Police who make it difficult for business men to transport their goods.
Stating that the 42nd ECOWAS Summit in Yammoussoukro, considerd the issue, he said: ``We have charged the Ivorian Minister of Infrastructure and the Nigerian Minister of Works to work with the ECOWAS Commission that within two weeks they must come up with a blueprint and preliminary information on the project that we will discuss in Addis Ababa in May when we go for AU meeting
``This is because we want a situation where the desk-work will be completed this year and by next year, we want physical construction.`
`We believe that when we have this express road the issue of movement interference by Customs and Police will be minimized because that will be an ECOWAS road.`
`The laws regulating the use of the road will not be the laws regulating that of the roads in Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire or Ghana. It will be an international standard and everything will be done in such a way that movement of goods services and so on will not be interfered with by local security.
``It is a viable project that banks and business men within and outside the region will key into and which will generate enough money in short time.
He further added that ECOWAS member States are elated by the prospects of the project which would integrate the entire region.``Togo has 7 million, Benin Republic, 8 million, Cote d’Ivoire 25 million, Ghana 26 million and Nigeria about 167 million.
``When you add all these together it gives you about 236 million out of the projected 287 million of ECOWAS
``So, these five countries, by the time you can traverse from Nigeria to Cote d’Ivoire, then you will easily integrate the entire sub-region.
``You will so integrate the system in such a way that you can key other countries along that is why we decided that we must work with our business men and men women to develop an express road from Lagos to Abidjan,’’ he said.
Observing that there were lots of untapped investment opportunities in the sub-region, saying they are yet to be properly harnessed due lack of technology and exportation of raw materials without adding values.
``When you export crude oil you export job opportunities because those who refine the crude oil and turn our gas to petrochemical create a lot of jobs.
``Like now we are suppose to be exporting finished products not crude oil and gas but we are still doing that.
``Cote d’Ivoire is just going to the oil industry, they should not make the mistakes the Nigeria made from the beginning they must think about exporting finished products not exporting crude oil.
Both countries respectively presented their economic potentials for the various business men in attendance to tap into.
