III. REVIEW OF MAJOR ECOWAS COMMON SECTORAL POLICIES
2. INFRASTRUCTURE
2.1. Road transport
To achieve economic integration and development of transport and trade among Member States, ECOWAS is seeking to facilitate road transport and transit through a specific approach for each corridor.
ECOWAS has thus defined the following as priority integration roads: the trans-coastal highway linking Lagos and Nouakchott via Dakar (4,560km), the Dakar-N’Djamena trans-Sahelian highway (4,460km), and interstate roads which involve the construction of the missing links along the above-mentioned highways or the rehabilitation of roads linking landlocked countries (Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger) to maritime ports.
The construction of the Lagos-Abidjan “toll”
highway, with six lanes and separate dual carriageways, is considered as a high priority for ECOWAS. This 1,028-kilometre Lagos-Abidjan corridor accounts for approximately 70 percent of all regional transit traffic, is home to more than 30 million inhabitants and serves as transit to 75 percent of trade in West Africa. It links not only certain major towns in West Africa, such as Lagos, Cotonou, Accra, Lome and Abidjan, but also dynamic maritime ports serving landlocked countries in the sub-region (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger).
An agreement was signed among the countries concerned on the sidelines of the March 2014
Table 5: List of PIDA projects in West Africa
Project title Summary description Total cost
(US$ millions)
Location (countries) Abidjan-Lagos Coastal
Corridor Modernise heavily travelled ARTIN corridor in West Africa. Trade facilitation,
OSBPs, capacity enhancement and implementation
of PPP for five countries: Côte-d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Bénin and Nigéria
290 Nigeria, Benin,
Togo, Ghana, Côte-d’Ivoire Dakar-Niamey
Multimodal Corridor Modernise heavily travelled ARTIN corridor in West Africa. Trade facilitation, OSBPs, capacity enhancement and implementation of PPP) for four countries:
Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger
590 Senegal, Mali,
Burkina Faso, Niger Praia-Dakar-Abidjan
Multimodal Corridor Improve marine transport and the connection between island and mainland countries by creating a new maritime service between regional ports and a modern information system to link the maritime service with ports and roads in the Dakar-Abidjan Corridor. Would also modernise one of the most heavily travelled ARTIN corridors in West Africa. Trade facilitation, OSBPs, capacity enhancement (possibly through PPP) for eight countries: Cabo Verde, Senegal, Gambie, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra-Leone, Liberia and Côte-d’Ivoire
150 Cabo Verde,
Bamako Modernise and rehabilitate mutli-modal corridor damaged by civil war in Côte d’Ivoire
540 Côte-d’Ivoire,
Burkina Faso, Mali West Africa Hub Port and
Rail Programme Address future capacity problems in West African ports with two components: a regional hub port and rail linkage master plan and port expansion
2 140 15 countries,
PMAWCA West Africa Air Transport Increase air transport service levels in West Africa, which are currently limited
by the lack of a regional air hub
420 15 countries
Source: Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa
ECOWAS Summit in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire, and Terms of Reference defined for highway construction feasibility and technical studies. The countries agreed to provide USD 50 million as start-up capital to accelerate the studies. Several partner countries and the African Union expressed interest in contributing to this important integration project in West Africa.
ECOWAS has made similar efforts toward construction of the Trans-Gambia Bridge and the rehabilitation of the 137-kilometre road linking the North and South of The Gambia and Senegal, with financial assistance from the African Development Bank. The programme for the Trans-West African Coastal Highway is also underway, with the construction of three bridges in Sierra Leone and a section of the road between the Moa Bridge and the Liberian border, which represent the missing links of the Coastal Highway, as well as the construction of the Zinder-Nigeria border road and the Koupela Piega-Fada N’gourma-Niger Border along the Trans-Sahelian Highway.
All of these projects are part of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), of which ECOWAS coordinates the regional component (see Table 5).
Additionally, ECOWAS has established a Transport and Transit Facilitation Programme, the main component of which is building five common border posts along the main corridors. ECOWAS is also implementing a policy to harmonise axle load standards.
Significant progress has been made toward the West Africa Trade Hub (WATH), a regional trade facilitation project supported by USAID since 2003 to enhance competitiveness in West Africa, promote exportation from West Africa, improve the business environment and promote regional integration.
Within the framework of improving the business environment, the Trade Hub is setting up Border Information Posts and serves as an incubator for the Borderless Alliance (see Box 5), an alliance led by the private sector to advocate for trade facilitation.
The Trade Hub is also working to develop a regional
transport observatory with greater geographical mandates and coverage than those of the current Abnormal Practices Observatory (APO).
2.2. Rail transport
ECOWAS has undertaken to revive and modernise the railway networks as a regional priority. To this end, the ECOWAS Commission conducted a study in 2008 to inform a master plan for interconnecting and modernising railway networks in the region. This master plan on the development of region’s railway network has been adopted by ECOWAS statutory bodies.
In April 2013, ECOWAS undertook to update the master plan in order to:
•
redefine, to the extent possible, priorities for the rehabilitation of existing lines and/or the construction of new lines;•
examine the possibility of linking The Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Sierra Leone to existing rail networks or those to be constructed in the other Member States;•
examine the possibility of new rail links in Guinea and Liberia and their interconnection to existing networks or those to be constructed; and•
present the new master plan that contains all ECOWAS railway network interconnections, with the links shown by order of priority.Within this framework, a detailed technical study on the Abidjan-Ouagadougou-Kaya-Dori-Niamey stretch was conducted, with the objective of linking the Southeast region of Mali (Asongo), Niamey and Ouagadougou to the Cotonou and Abidjan ports.
The effective launch of the construction of the rail loop connecting Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire also took place on 7 April 2014.
2.3. Air transport
ECOWAS has focused less on modernising airports than on establishing safe and reliable air transport
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Section iii: ReVieW oF MAJoR ecoWAS coMMon SectoRAL PoLicieS
ECOWAS AT 40 AN ASSESSMENT OF PROGRESS TOWARDS REGIONAL INTEGRATION IN WEST AFRICA
systems to connect Member States, with equal access to airlines that meet air transport market conditions in West Africa.
The capacity-building programme for institutions in charge of Aviation Safety Oversight in Member States within the framework of COSCAP programmes has made significant progress, with the creation of a Sub-regional Aviation Safety Oversight Organisation (BAGASOO) in 2010 among seven Member States.
The ECOWAS Commission also appraised the status of Member State implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision (YD), in particular their compliance with the YD and actions required to remove bottlenecks to implementing a Liberalized Air Transport Market within ECOWAS. Encouragingly,
all Member States are working hard to achieve this objective in the air transport sector.
ECOWAS is also working to promote a viable air transport industry in the region. A Steering Committee for ECOWAS airlines has been set up, and the ECOWAS Commission is promoting the establishment of a regional aircraft leasing company.
2.4. Maritime and inland waterway transport
A project to create a sub-regional maritime
company, ECOMARINE International, has been under discussion for several years. The absence of maritime connections among member countries severely impedes regional trade (particularly for Cabo Verde).
Box 5: Borderless Alliance (Site Web: http://www.borderlesswa.com)
The Borderless Alliance is composed of Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo (but aims to cover all ECOWAS countries). An initiative of the private sector, it counts 60 companies as members.
The Alliance was born out of a campaign known as the Borderless campaign, conducted in June 2010 and supported by the USAID Trade Hub Project, which aimed to raise awareness among States and the private sector on free movement as a factor of prosperity and regional integration.
The first line of action is advocacy for the implementation by the States of protocols they have adopted. The primary targets are actors at the borders.
The Alliance has set up border posts, and engages retired customs officers to assist stakeholders and train actors at the borders (customs officers, forwarding agents). Information is gathered weekly to feed into quarterly and annual reports to the Alliance.
The posts also take action with immediate effects, such as offering practical advice to address trade obstacles that arise in the field.
UEMOA has established an Abnormal Practices Observatory (APO), member countries of which include all UEMOA countries (except Guinea Bissau) and Ghana. A study conducted on the trade
liberalization scheme highlighted discrepancies in implementation practice.
The approach now used focuses on the following corridors: Lagos – Abidjan – Tema – Ouagadougou; Ouagadougou – Bamako (two lanes); Dakar – Bamako; Cotonou – Niamey; Abidjan – Ouagadougou;
Abidjan – Bamako; and Lomé – Ouagadougou.
Plans are underway to develop a West African driver’s handbook.
In 2010, a survey of a sample of 240 trucks was conducted to assess the time spent for border clearance. The idea is to conduct a survey every six months, to assess the impact of the Alliance’s actions and consider recommendations. With regard to barriers within countries (checkpoints), the Alliance supports APO initiatives by providing technical assistance to reporting on checkpoints, delays and illicit charges. The CILSS is also involved in monitoring the movement of agricultural products.
The APO and the Alliance are complementary. UEMOA has focal points in countries to gather information for the APO, while the Alliance conducts verification missions.
The Alliance is run by a staff of 10 officers. Financial resources are derived from member contributions, USAID and ECOWAS (as part of joint activities).
Source: Interviews conducted at Borderless Alliance by the Authors