Trade and Transport Facilitation

The Road Transport and Transit Sectors in West Africa in general and specifically along the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor are facing loss of time and additional costs for the various stakeholders in the transport chain.

In order to find a lasting solution to these problems, the World Bank has undertaken since September 2007, the preparation and implementation of a Trade and Transport Facilitation Project on the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor (PFCTAL). This project supports the Regional Program for Facilitation of Road Transport and Transit in West Africa of ECOWAS.

The five Member States of the Abidjan Lagos Corridor Organization (OCAL) then signed with the ECOWAS Commission a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Accra in September 2007. This MOU aims to set up mechanisms to lift the obstacles to the free movement of people and goods along the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor. In addition, these devices will improve the economic performance of the Abidjan Lagos Corridor.

For the implementation of this project, the Executive Secretariat of OCAL has been appointed by the ECOWAS Commission to monitor the proper implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding and its annexes on trade and transport facilitation. To achieve this, a system for collecting and analyzing quality data has been put in place in order to inform the indicators for assessing the performance of the Abidjan-Lagos corridor.

The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Trade and Transport Facilitation Project has four components:

Trade Facilitation,
Improvement of the corridor road infrastructure,
Project management and coordination
The HIV / AIDS control program and monitoring the performance of the corridor.
This last component emphasizes the monitoring of a series of indicators at regional level, namely:

The computerized and operational Single Window at Ports
Stay time of goods / containers at Ports
The time to cross the borders of trucks loaded with goods
Number of roadblocks by country
The percentage of roads in good and acceptable condition (IRI <6) compared to the total length of the Corridor has increased
The number of kilometers of rehabilitated roads has increased
Percentage of truckers familiar with two or more HIV / AIDS prevention methods has increased
Percentage of truckers reporting condom use during last intercourse with casual partner increased
The number of direct beneficiaries of the project (number) including women (%).