ADF Approves $97 Million For Bamako-Tema Higway

TUNIS, 19 NOVEMBER 2003 – The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund (ADF) has approved a loan of 64.50 Units of Account (UA)*, equivalent to 92.35 million US dollars and a grant of 3.50 million UA, equivalent to 5.01 million US dollars, to finance Road Programme (PR-1) which forms part of a Community Infrastructure and Road Action Programme (PACITR). The PR-1 concerns the Bamako-Ouagadougou-Accra-Tema corridor and links up to the ports of Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to a certain extent.

The programme, which is part of the short-term plan of action on infrastructure of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development NEPAD, will contribute to the strengthening of economic integration and sub-regional co-operation of the member countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and to improve accessibility to the countries in the hinterland.

Specifically, the programme seeks to improve the accessibility of land-locked countries (Burkina, Mali and Niger) to Ghanaian ports, promote economic activities and private sector development, reduce general transport costs through actions and measures to facilitate road transit and transport, improve the sustainability of investments through the control of axle loads and strengthen programme monitoring capacities.

To achieve these objectives, the population of the programme area will be sensitised on environmental protection, infectious diseases (AIDS), malaria and road safety while the transport operators will be sensitised on the PACITR strategy and on regulations relating to the facilitation of road transport and transit. It will also involve technical and economic feasibility studies on 900 km of the PACITR road corridors, preparation of detailed engineering designs on 750 km of RP-1 (Bamako-Ouagadougou-Accra-Tema corridor) roads, strengthening of 1,050 km of paved roads, rehabilitation and construction of socio-economic facilities, setting up of juxtaposed control posts at the borders, installation of an Advanced Cargo Information System (ACIS) and radio communication system along the corridor as well as reinforcement of programme monitoring capacities of the executing agencies.

The implementation of RP-1 will strengthen co-operation and regional economic integration through the reduction of non-tariff barriers and ?invisible? costs. It will foster the development of commercial activities along the corridors as a result of the savings made from reduced illegal charges along the corridor. At the institutional level, it will strengthen UEMOA capacities in the planning and monitoring of NEPAD infrastructure programmes, contribute to poverty reduction and the training of the actors and operators of the transport chain on the corridor. In this respect, the programme falls in line with the Bank vision, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and the Country Strategy Paper of the three countries, and with NEPAD’s key priorities, which seek to generate economies of scale through integrated major groupings.

At the grassroots level, the various activities and arrangements are such that the programme will have a significant impact on poverty reduction, as the related works and developments will require slightly skilled or unskilled labour for certain items of works. It is therefore expected that nearly FCFA 2.5 billion would be distributed in the form of wages to workers, who will be employed during programme implementation. The temporary jobs thus offered to the population of the programme area will help to distribute incomes that will supplement those earned from the sale of agricultural products for which demand keeps on growing. In addition, the reduction in transport costs as a result of the level of service on the road will give fresh impetus to agriculture in the area, and strengthen the expanding informal trade sector.

The estimated cost of the entire programme is UA 182.39 million, equivalent to 261.14 million US dollars. The ADF contribution represents 37.28% of the total cost of the programme, and will cover 42.09% of the foreign exchange cost and 18.77% of the local currency cost of the entire programme.

Other contributors are private operators of the Inter-State transport sector that are beneficiaries, the West African Development Bank (WADB), the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and the Governments of Burkina Faso, Ghana and Mali as well as the International Development Agency (IDA), the EU and the Danish Development Assistance (DANIDA).