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The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved a loan of $80.93 million to both Senegal and Guinea that will be utilised for the construction works of a new interstate road linking Labe and Mali located in Guinea with Senegal’s Kedougou and Fongolembi.
This loan for the road is from the concessional window of the African Development Bank. It entails $41.47 million earmarked for Senegal and a total of $39.46 earmarked for Guinea.
This funding will be utilized for for the construction works of the road and also asphalting of the road. This road will be a crucial element in strengthening trading activities and integration between the two countries. Moreover, it will be of importance in that it will aid the livelihoods of the people in the region. It will also facilitate the delivery to the forestry market, agro-pastoral and even the mining products.
Significance Senegal-Guinea Road of the Road Project
Additionally, this upcoming road project is set to offer hauliers in Mali a better access route to the port of Conakry using the southern Dakar-Bamako route. This route passes via the town of Kedougou. Moreover, the construction of rural roads that will be feeder roads to the highway will make it much more easier to supply inputs and also the transportation of the agricultural products.
This road project will be implemented in two sections. This will entail a total of 178.11 kilometres that will be built in Guinea. The other 62.60 kilometres will be constructed in Senegal.
The road surface of this road project will be made from climate-resilient asphalt concrete. Furthermore, it will consist of a 3.60 meter lane in either directions and also hard shoulders of 1.5 meters.
The implementation of this road project wil also by co-financed by the Islamic Development Bank. The West African Development Bank (BOAD) will also co-finance the project in support of the governments from the two countries.
Side Projects of the Project
Furthermore, this road project will also entail the, the construction of a total of 150 kilometres of rural roads. This will entail construction of 100 kilometres in Guinea and 50 kilometres in the Senagalese side. In addition to the rural roads, there would be also construction of 20.26 kilometres of paved roads. This will involve 14.26km of paved roads in Guinea in the towns of Labe in Mali (Guinea).6 kilometres of paved roads would be built in Kedougou Senegal.
The AfDB deputy director of the West African region, Joseph Ribeiro commented saying:
“The African Development Bank is a key partner for the sector of transport in the West African region and even beyond. This bank plays a very pivotal role in funding of projects that are related to transport especially in Guinea and Senegal using its personnel for a range of interventions.
The participation of this bank in this project its leadership in infrastructure development in Africa. This is mainly aimed to cement both integration and extension of the African Continental Free Trade Area.”
This ambitious cross-border road project possesses direct impact on a region that contains a population of 1,370,820 as per the year 2020. This figure represents 4.76% of the population of Senegal and Guinea. |
