Funding of $100 million has been approved by the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) to build the coastal highway between Lagos and Calabar.
At its 92nd regular session meeting on June 30, 2025, the bank unveiled a larger funding package that included the approval. The first phase of the highway’s development, a 47.47-kilometer dual carriageway, was awarded to Hitech development Company Ltd. in March 2024.
In a statement posted on its website, the EBID’s board of directors authorized a total of €174 million and $125 million for projects that will support industrial development and economic progress throughout West Africa.
The project, which spans 47.7 km, will link nine Nigerian states, improve access to seaports and isolated agro-industrial areas, and contribute to the emergence of a regional value chain to help coastal communities.
Financing was also authorized for a number of other projects throughout the subregion in addition to the Nigerian coastal highway initiative.
The bank authorized €50 million for Planet One to build and furnish six technical and vocational training facilities in Togo.
According to the EBID, the program aims to give young people in Togo the skills they need for a variety of businesses. An estimated 3,480 trainees are anticipated to gain from it each year, making the workforce more skilled and competitive. Additionally, $25 million was approved by the ECOWAS Bank to help Société de Ciment de Côte d’Ivoire buy 400,000 tonnes of clinker, and increase Côte d’Ivoire’s cement product availability.
The recently agreed promises are in line with several important Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN, such as industry, innovation, and infrastructure (SDG 9), cheap and clean energy (SDG 7), and high-quality education (SDG 4), the bank noted.
The investments also align with its strategic aim, which is to support sustainable, resilient, and inclusive development throughout the 15 western countries in the regional group. The investment brings the EBID’s overall pledges in West Africa to above $5 billion.
