Praia-Dakar-Abidjan Corridor: ECOWAS Experts Chart Final Project Financing Phase.
By Raymond Enoch.
Experts Gear Up for Ministerial Committee as ECOWAS Reviews Final Route, Feasibility and Financing for Praia-Dakar-Abidjan Corridor
Freetown, Sierra Leone – September 10, 2025 — would play a major hosting step towards advancing West Africa’s most ambitious infrastructure initiative. Experts from across the region convened for a critical three-day technical meeting ahead of the 4th Ministerial Steering Committee for the Praia-Dakar-Abidjan Corridor Development Project.
The meeting, hosted by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), aims to finalize the optimal route and assess the economic viability of the corridor, which stretches across seven member states from Cape Verde’s capital, Praia, to Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire. It also marks a pivotal moment for evaluating the feasibility study results and defining a viable financing and management model for the associated Praia-Dakar maritime link.
Accordingly, this gathering is essential to ensuring that the strategic transport corridor is not only aligned within the national plans of individual member states but also structured as a unified regional infrastructure network. Experts will also assess the current road network conditions, ongoing and future construction and rehabilitation efforts, and synchronize national and regional objectives into a coherent development strategy.
“This corridor is more than a road; it is a backbone for trade, integration, and socio-economic transformation across the region,” one senior ECOWAS technical delegate noted during the opening session.
The meeting is expected to provide crucial technical inputs and strategic recommendations for the forthcoming 4th Ministerial Steering Committee, which will review the consolidated findings and set the roadmap for implementation. In particular, attention will be given to the financial and operational frameworks that can support the maritime and land-based segments of the corridor over the long term.
If successfully executed, the Praia-Dakar-Abidjan Corridor is projected to become a critical driver of regional integration, unlocking economic potential, improving connectivity, and facilitating seamless movement of goods and people across West Africa’s Atlantic coastline.
The experts’ session runs from September 9 to 11 in Freetown and will conclude with a set of technical communiqués that will inform policy decisions at the ministerial level.
