A special fund has been set aside for the reconstruction of the Trans-Saharan African Highway expected to connect Nigeria’s commercial city, Lagos with the capital of Algeria, Algiers.
The Details: The continental road rehabilitation exercise is targeted at boosting the economic prospects of Africa as a whole, according to President Muhammadu Buhari. The President who was represented by the Minister for Police Affairs, Maigari Dingyadi, made this statement at the 70th Session of the Trans-Saharan Road Liaison Committee which held in Abuja.
Buhari’s words: “I am aware that the committee has made concerted efforts to execute the task of building the Trans-Saharan road, which is also known as the Trans-Saharan African Highway to link Algiers with Nigeria through Lagos.
“The road will also have routes and branches that link Tunisia, Mali and Chad. That highway is a pride of the African continent. This is why Nigeria is supporting and will continue to support (the project).
“The Nigerian government is currently upgrading the section of the Trans-Saharan road within its borders. Special funding consideration has been committed to the reconstruction work on the sections of Trans-Saharan roads from Lagos to Ibadan and Kaduna to Kano,” he added.
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In addition, Buhari noted that the government had commenced repairs on roads like Ibadan to Ilorin, Ilorin to Jebba, Jebba to Mokwa and Mokwa to Kaduna to allow free movement of goods and persons utilising those routes.
Further Details: Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works and Housing, gave further insights into the plans of the Trans-Saharan Road Liaison Committee (TRLC). He disclosed that the TRLC was committed to connecting South Africa and Tunisia either by driving through East African border, West African border or through the centre of Africa.
He also added that a coast to coast connection is currently in the works which is expected to link West to East Africa, North-East Africa to North-West Africa and South-West Africa to East Africa.
“A total of nine highways at different stages of construction are meant to achieve this connectivity. Three of these highways pass through the territory of Nigeria.
“They are the Lagos-Dakar highway, through Seme in Benin Republic; Lagos-Mombasa, through Yaoundè in Cameroon; and Lagos-Algiers, which is the one supported by this committee and this is the subject of our meeting,” the Minister said.