Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Development Project

 1.0 Background/Introduction:

The Heads of State and Governments of the Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo agreed on the Margins of ECOWAS Ordinary Sessions of the Authority of Heads of State and Government held in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia on 25^th May, 2013 and on the margins of the 43^rd Session of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government in Abuja, Nigeria on 18^th July, 2013 to transform the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor into a 6-Lane Dual-Carriage Multinational Highway should be implemented. The Presidents then signed a Treaty to establish the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor and also serve as the framework within which their Vision should be implemented.

The ECOWAS Regional Integration Vision involves the enhancement of infrastructure development recognized as a catalyst for economic growth and integration of peoples. In this regard, the ECOWAS Commission, which prioritizes transport infrastructure in its 2020 Vision Strategy Paper: “Towards an ECOWAS of Peoples”, obtained from the Heads of State during the 42nd Ordinary Summit held in February 2013, formal approval for the construction of a homogenous six-lane (2×3 lanes) highway corridor to link five ECOWAS Member States namely Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.

The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor is approximately 1,080 km long, connects some of the largest and most economically dynamic cities in Africa, namely: Abidjan, Accra, Cotonou, Lomé and Lagos and covers a large proportion of West Africa’s population. It also links very vibrant seaports which serve all the landlocked countries of the region, being Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

For the purposes of fast-tracking the Technical Studies especially for the feasibility and design study, the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway has been divided into three (3) lots as presented as follows:

2.0 Programme Components

In order to ensure a holistic transformation of the transport corridor into an Economic Development Corridor, the Programme has been packaged into several Components as follows:

a. Feasibility Study and Environmental, Social Impacts Assessment (ESIA): This covers Feasibility study – engineering, financial, economic analysis (ii) detailed engineering design; (iii) PPP viability assessment for investment and operations of the corridor; Comprehensive impact assessment on all environment and social implication of the project including resettlement and compensation.

b. Detailed Engineering Design: Detailed engineering design of the safe and effective implementation of the hard infrastructure that is fit for purpose and in compliance with best practice and national requirements.

c. PPP Transaction Structuring and Advisory Service: An assessment of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) viability for investment and operations of the Corridor. This will culminate in a financial and project investment briefs to engage potential financiers.

d. Corridor Spatial Development Study: An analysis of the physical, technical, policy, economic and market aspects of the corridor to develop a realistic, market feasible and implementable corridor investment masterplan, development framework and delivery strategy. The will identify “anchor projects” for the Corridor that naturally lead to upstream and downstream investments with the goal of creating an industrial cluster of new businesses offering increased employment. The anchor project will be in all economic sectors being transport, power, water, telecommunications, Agriculture, Mining etc.

e. Corridor Management Authority Establishment and Operations – Finalize the Legal Framework and Institutional Structure and Establish the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Management Authority in line with the Project Treaty.

f. Trade and Transport Facilitation – This include a review of the existing trade facilitation related studies and policies in operation along the corridor (ii) develop a harmonized and simplified sub-regional transportation and transit systems and border (one-stop) management. Scope to include ICT connectivity and information sharing between stakeholder platforms such as customs, immigrations and other border agencies at national and regional level; iii) initiate Implementation

g. Technical Assistance Service to ECOWAS and Member States – Comprise capacity support to the ECOWAS and Member State agencies to effectively manage all the above service delivery components on behalf of ECOWAS. This will include: i) consulting and advisory services; ii) procuring office equipment; iii) conduct project visibility (marketing) activities; v) conducting regional workshops, and platforms for multi-lateral coordination activities, e.g. JTC and JSC meetings and study validation workshops

h. Road Safety Audits – A Study on developing operational road safety systems, utilizing safe design practices and international standards, to be implemented during the design and operational phase of a project to ensure safety of all road users.

3.0 Rail Component

According to Articles 5 (4) and Articles 5 (5) of the Treaty, the Heads of State of the five (5) Corridor Countries envisaged the Corridor Development Program to make provision for the necessary right of way to include a Railway Line along the Corridor.

Member States and the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Management Authority (ALCoMA) being established are therefore supposed to acquire a Right of Way that will accommodate both the 6-Lane Highway and a Railway Line to connect important economic zones of the Corridor Countries.

4.0 Project Steering Committee

The Heads of State at the outset of the project designated the Nigerian Minister in charge of Works to Chair the Ministerial Steering Committee of the Project. The current Chairman of the Committee is Honourable Babatunde Raji Fashola (Senior Advocate of Nigeria) SAN, Honourable Minister of Power, Works and Housing for the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The other Members are as follows:

• Honourable Cry Koty, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Republic of Benin, Cotonou, Benin
• Honourable Dr. Amede K. Kouakou, Minister of Economic Infrastructures, Republic of Cote d’Ivoire, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
• Honourable Akwasi Amoako-Attah, Minister of Roads and Highways, Republic of Ghana
• Honourable Ninsao Gnofam, Minister of Economic Infrastructures and Transport, Togolese Republic, Lome, Togo
• The Commissioner for Infrastructure of the ECOWAS Commission is also a Member of the Steering Committee in accordance with the Treaty.

The Commission has successfully organized nine (9) Steering Committee Meetings out of which major decisions have been made to guide project implementation. The venues for the Meetings are usually alternated among the Corridor Countries. Nigeria hosted the 9^th Steering Committee Meeting in Abuja on 11^th November, 2017. The 10^th Steering Committee Meeting will be held in Cotonou, Benin at the end of April, 2018.

Each Steering Committee Meeting is preceded by a three (3) Day meeting of Road Infrastructure Experts and the African Development Bank to review technical progress of implementation and prepare for the Ministerial Steering Committee meeting.

5.0 Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Treaty

The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Project Treaty was prepared with officials from the Ministries of Justice/Legal and Ministries of Road Works Ministries from the five (5) Corridor Member States. This was validated by the respective Ministers of Justice in the Five (5) Countries and signed by the Presidents of the concerned Member States at the margins of the ECOWAS Summit in February 2014 at Yamoussoukro, Cote d’lvoire.

The Treaty provides the broad legal framework within which the Project is expected to be implemented.

6.0 Financing (Technical Preparatory Studies)

Following an approval by the Steering Committee, the ECOWAS Commission sent a joint request to the African Development Bank to fund the feasibility, detailed engineering design and related technical preparatory studies of the Project. The AfDB conducted an Appraisal Mission to all the five corridor countries with the ECOWAS Commission and the ECOWAS Project Preparation and Development Unit. This culminated in the provision of about US$22.72m from the African Development Fund (ADF) and African Investment Facility (AfIF) of the European Union to fund all the technical preparation studies for the Components above. The breakdown is as follows:

a. ADF Loan of UA 3.0 Million distributed equally to the Republic of Ghana, Federal Republic of Nigeria, and Republic of Benin;

b. UA 2.0 Million ADF Grant distributed equally to the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire and the Togolese Republic; and

c. UA 4.0 Million ADF Grant to the ECOWAS Commission, totalling UA 9.0 Million, to finance part of the Study for The Abidjan Lagos Highway Project Development.

d. Grant of 9.13 Million Euro from the European Union Commission (Africa Investment Facility window)

7.0 Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Management

The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Treaty signed by the five (5) Heads of States created an Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Management Authority (ALCoMA) with Supranational Status which shall have the responsibilities to construct, manage and operate the Corridor and to do all other such duties as it relates to its mandate (Articles 2 and Article 9 (1 & 2).

According to the Project Treaty (Article 22), all functions being performed in the interim by the Steering Committee and all other Stakeholders, shall automatically vest in ALCoMA, from the day it is physically established and empowered to perform its duties.

In the interim, the Steering Committee made up of the Ministers of Works/Roads to provide oversight guidance and the Commissioner for Infrastructure of the ECOWAS Commission, as established by the Heads of State and Governments of the five (5) corridor countries provides the oversight responsibility for the Project. The Nigerian Minister in-charge of Road Works was designated by the Presidents as the Chair of the Steering Committee.

The five (5) Presidents also designated the ECOWAS Commission to coordinate and facilitate the implementation of the Project. In this regard, the Commission through its Department of Infrastructure is the Executing Agency for the project, under the supervision of the Commissioner for Infrastructure.

Under an Agreement signed between the ECOWAS Commission and the African Union Commission, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) provided funding for an Early Stage Project Preparation Technical Assistance support for the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Development Project. This included the preparation of an institutional and legal framework for the establishment of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Management Authority (ALCoMA).

The Study for the preparation of the institutional and legal documents for ALCoMA was validated by Member States’ Justice and Road Infrastructure Ministries at several workshops. The final documentation forming the Institutional Framework for the Abidjan Corridor Management Authority (ALCoMA) are as follows:

• Intergovernmental Agreement for Creating the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Management Authority (ALCoMA)
• International Project Agreement between the Corridor Member States and ALCoMA
• Rules of Procedure for ALCoMA
• Enabling Act

8.0 ALCoMA LEGAL FRAMEWORK

a. TREATY PROVISIONS

The Treaty on the Establishment of the Abidjan – Lagos Corridor (ALC) mandates the Steering Committee with the creation of the Abidjan – Lagos Corridor Management Authority (ALCoMA) with supra–national status, legal personality and financial autonomy. Specifically, Article 8 of the Treaty requires the Steering Committee to set-up among others a Corridor Management Authority with supranational status, financially autonomous and have legal personality (Articles 2, 9 (2)). It further defines an Agreed Regime (Article 6) which includes the International Project Agreement (IPA), the Enabling legislation and Rules of Procedure amongst other legal instruments. In fulfilment of the Treaty provisions, Experts from the Justice Ministries and their Road Infrastructure colleagues from the Corridor States have worked with the Consultancy Firm, Gauff Ingenuires with guidance from the ECOWAS Commission and Technical Partners (GIZ, NEPAD and AFDB) to develop appropriate Instruments based on best practices around the world which were validated at a final workshop on 14th and 15th July, 2017 and are summarized below.

b. INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT FOR THE CREATION OF ALCoMA (IA)

The IA establishes the ALCoMA in accordance with the defined legal status and principles in the Treaty and specifies its powers, purpose, objectives, functions and responsibilities to construct, manage and operate the Corridor and do all such things within its mandate. The decisions of the ALCoMA shall be subject to review by the Steering Committee which shall have supervisory authority over ALCoMA. The conceptual framework is that the Corridor States will acquire the right of way, within the outlined parameters of expropriation and compensation, which right of way shall be exclusively ceded and transferred to ALCoMA for purposes of the Corridor Project.

The IA outlines the principles within which the ALCoMA shall operate which include, amongst others, equal treatment of the stakeholders within the Corridor, transparency, harmonisation, facilitation, mutual assistance and consensus. The IA prescribes the Organs of the ALCoMA as consisting of a Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Executive Management Committee (EMC) and Staff at various levels.

The IA proposes that the Board should be composed of two non-executive directors appointed by each Corridor State, with one representative having public sector experience (but no longer serving) and the other having private sector experience together with a representative appointed by ECOWAS. The tenure of office of a Board member shall not exceed four years and may be renewed only once more for another four year term. It further outlines the roles and responsibilities of the Board as being overall policy formulation and approval of work plans and budgets from the EMC. The IA further proposes that the CEO, EMC members and Staff of ALCoMA be appointed on merit whilst achieving balanced recruitment from the Corridor States.

It also outlines the responsibilities of the indicated officers and staff of the ALCoMA as mainly being overall policy implementation, formulation of strategies and plans, mobilization of funding and resources.

The IA provides for financing arrangements for the ALCoMA in undertaking the construction, management and operation of the ALC. The underlying funding principle will be one of joint responsibilities of the ALCoMA and the Corridor States for funding the Corridor activities as a single entity from funds sourced by ALCoMA to be pooled into a common fund. The sources of funds shall in the main include seed funds and contributions from the Corridor States, private sector and PPP arrangements, loans and grants from development partners, tolls and user-pay charges. The ALCoMA shall prepare and submit periodic budgets to be approved by the Steering

Committee. The IA also provides for general provisions relating to signature and entry into force, ratification, amendments, settlement of disputes, reservations and depository.

It should be noted that the IA is the most critical legal instrument that needs to be adopted by the Steering Committee to enable the ALCoMA to be operational and all other instruments will be finalized and adopted after the ALCoMA comes into existence.

c. INTERNATIONAL PROJECT AGREEMENT (IPA)

The IPA is intended to be signed between the Corridor States represented by the Steering Committee and the ALCoMA once it has been established and operationalised and as specified by Article 6.1 of the Treaty, it shall form part of the Agreed Regime. It therefore does not require the same priority of adoption and validation as the Intergovernmental Agreement summarized above.

In the IPA, both the Corridor States and ALCoMA commit to be bound by the Agreed Regime as therein defined. Any breaches of the Agreed Regime shall be dealt with and remedied as specified in the IPA. Corridor States are obliged to undertake legislative processes giving legislative effect to the Agreed Regime (the Enabling Legislation). The powers and functions of both the Steering Committee and ALCoMA are specified in the IPA including the funding mechanism of the ALCoMA. The Steering Committee shall have supervisory responsibility over the ALCoMA. The ALCoMA shall in the discharge of its mandate develop requisite technical Corridor Regulations, Corridor Development plans including budgets, Environmental and Social

Management plans and Emergency Response plans in conjunction with the technical authorities of the Corridor States. The IPA obliges Corridor States to acquire land required by the ALCoMA for the Corridor Project. It however reserves all appurtenants in the right of way to the Corridor States except where such are required for purposes of the Corridor Project. The construction, operation and maintenance of the Corridor shall be carried out by the ALCoMA and the Corridor States undertake to provide the requisite support to the ALCoMA in this regard. Tariff and user charges to be applied along the Corridor shall be agreed with the Corridor States. There are provisions in the IPA regulating local procurement and employment, tax issues and applicable exemptions. General provisions relating to breaches of obligations, force majeure, termination of the IPA, dispute resolution, business ethics parameters, entry into force, ratification and depository are included.

d. ENABLING LEGISLATION

This is a model draft Abidjan – Lagos Corridor Act providing for the implementation of the Agreed regime and related matters to be enacted by each Corridor State once the Agreed Regime has been finalized. It states the objectives and scope of the Abidjan – Lagos Corridor (ALC) and Governance and powers of the ALCoMA as provided for in the Agreed Regime. It commits each Corridor State to authorizing the Corridor Project to be undertaken within its territory as a single entity, be bound by the decisions and actions of the ALCoMA, comply with the Agreed Regime and to funding the ALCoMA as may be required. The Enabling Legislation further commits to enactment of the ALC Regulations and creating a conducive Financial Regime for the ALCoMA that provides appropriate tax exemptions access to foreign currency. It further provides for the protection of the environment by obliging ALCoMA with liability for environmental damage and undertaking of appropriate mitigation measures. In addition to miscellaneous provisions, it lists all national and ECOWAS laws that shall be applicable to the ALCoMA in a schedule.

e. RULES OF PROCEDURE

The Rules of Procedure are designed to regulate the procedural aspects and relationship between the Steering Committee and the ALCoMA. It covers such issues as principles underlying the establishment of both the Steering Committee and the ALCoMA, governance issues that include hierarchy of the Agreed Regime and resolution of any conflict within it, the Board of Directors and Officers of the ALCoMA, relationship between the Steering Committee and ALCoMA including definition of reserved matters and conduct of Annual General Meetings, Accounting and Financial Matters, procedures for termination and dissolution of ALCoMA and Final Provisions covering amendments, seal of authority and entry into force.

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