Lagos, Nigeria – 15 September 2023: Rising from the Validation Workshop for the Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) Scoping survey for the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Development Project which ended in Lagos on the 15th September 2023, Engineers, sector experts, and specialists from the ECOWAS Commission and Agencies, Development Partners along with representatives from Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Member States are set to catalyze industrial revolution in the ECOWAS Sub-region.
The overall objective of this the Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) Scoping survey for the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Development Project is to identify and unlock the inherent and latent economic potential (short-, medium- and long-term) and commercial viability of economic and industrial value chain projects.
The Consortium made up of CPCS, Holland and Hausberge and Comete used the SDI approach to identify specific infrastructure interventions in the Abidjan- Lagos Corridor catchment area to be conducted by the corridor’s stakeholders to unlock private sector investment in high-opportunity sectors and locations. The workshop featured detailed technical presentations by the Consortium in which they showed that they scoped 256 potential projects. The SDI approach entails the identification of three type of projects along the corridor. These Projects are packaged into Clusters namely ‘Economic Anchor’ Projects, Strategic Infrastructure’ Projects and ‘Densification’ and ‘Deepening’ Projects.
The Spatial Development Initiative Study (SDI) for the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Development Project was approved during this gathering, demonstrating a commitment to unlock the inherent and latent economic potential of the corridor. The study focused on short- medium-and long-term economic and industrial value chain projects.
Key Highlights of the SDI:
- Corridor Definition: The SDI defined the zone of influence along the corridor, analyzed development aspects, and identified a shortlist of priority projects.
- Advisory Services: The SDI provides advisory services on regulatory and institutional frameworks, economic and financial analysis, and delivers an investment and marketing plan for identified projects.
- Investment Opportunities: The initiative identifies related up and downstream investment opportunities, aiming to densify the corridor through feeder infrastructure to maximize developmental impact.
The study revealed that the corridor countries currently face challenges in small-scale manufacturing due to the “3D Challenge for Regional Integration in Africa” – Division, Distance, and Density. However, the SDI envisions a future where highly developed materials production and downstream industries thrive, fostering global and regional exports.
The Abidjan-Lagos corridor highway project aligns with the four pillars of regional integration, including trade policy implementation capacity, removing obstacles to the movement of goods across borders, developing effective trade corridors and infrastructure, and enhancing regional economic linkages and capacity trade.
The SDI criteria focus on economic competitiveness, including fiscal, spatial, knowledge, consumption, upstream, downstream, and horizontal factors. The initiative aims to enhance trade facilitation and provide infrastructure to realize other resource potentials such as agriculture, wildlife, fisheries, and tourism.
The Scoping Report provided a comprehensive baseline of the corridor’s infrastructure and identified 256 projects relevant to the study’s objectives. This list was refined to a shortlist of 31 priority clusters that will drive economic transformation along the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor.
The projects are categorized into two main groups:
- Economic Anchor Projects and Strategic Infrastructure Projects: These are the principal anchor project clusters in each member state, focusing on physical and spatial integration.
- Deepening Projects (Economic Activity) and Densification Projects (Ancillary Infrastructure Investment): These projects further support economic development along the corridor.
Examples of industries captured in the clusters include NLNG Trains 5 and 6, Escravos-Lagos Gas Pipeline Enhancement, Dangote Oil Refinery (Nigeria), Offshore Oil Ghana Expansion, GNPC CPF & Atuabo-Aboadze Pipeline (Ghana), Maria Gleta Power Plant expansion (Benin), Urea Fertilizer Plant (Togo) and SIR Abidjan Oil Refinery Expansion (Cote D’Ivoire), among others.
The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Member States, Development Partners, and Specialists are committed to implementing the SDI, which will drive economic growth, foster regional integration, and unlock the corridor’s immense potential.
