The ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) has approved $100 million in funding for the construction of a 47.7-kilometre stretch of Nigeria’s Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
This segment, designated as Section 1, Phase 1 of the project, starts from Ahmadu Bello Way in Lagos. Construction began in March 2024 and is being executed by Hitech Construction Company Limited.
The approval was part of a broader round of commitments announced during EBID’s 92nd ordinary session held in Lagos, where the bank disclosed that it had allocated a total of €174 million and $125 million for infrastructure and social development projects across West Africa, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
EBID stated that the Lagos-Calabar highway funding is intended to enhance access across nine Nigerian states, improve connectivity to seaports and remote agro-industrial zones, and facilitate more efficient movement of goods and services along the southern economic corridor.
The project is also expected to help develop a regional value chain that supports the livelihoods of coastal communities.
“The bank also approved a $100 million funding for the Lagos-Calabar coastal motorway project, in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“It said that this project, which spanned 47.7 km, would link nine Nigerian states, improve access to seaports and isolated agro-industrial areas. EBID noted the funding would also contribute to the emergence of a regional value chain to help coastal communities,” the NAN report read in part.
More regional projects funded
Other approved projects include a €50 million investment for the construction and equipping of six technical and vocational education centres in Togo, aimed at training 3,480 youths annually in high-demand skills.
- In Guinea, EBID committed €28.9 million to modernise four agricultural high schools and an additional €95.16 million for the construction of three hydroelectric micro-power stations with a combined capacity of 30 MW, targeted at improving renewable energy access in rural areas.
- In Côte d’Ivoire, $25 million was approved to support clinker imports by Société de Ciment de Côte d’Ivoire to boost cement production and ease material shortages in the construction sector.
The bank noted that these investments align with several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure. With this latest round of approvals, EBID’s total financial commitments in West Africa have now exceeded $5 billion.
What you should know
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, recently disclosed that the Federal Government procured contracts worth over N3 trillion for sections of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway spanning Lagos, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River States.
- Section I, which begins in Lagos, was procured at N1.068 trillion, with 30% of the contract sum already disbursed.
- Section II, which includes several flyovers and crosses swampy terrain linking to the Dangote Refinery, was awarded at N1.6 trillion.
- Additionally, Sections III A and III B, covering the Akwa Ibom and Cross River segments, were jointly procured at N1.33 trillion.
President Bola Tinubu had in May 2025 commissioned the first completed section of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
