The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund (https://apo-opa.co/4f9eBTb) approved loans totalling €156.66 million on November 29 to Burkina Faso and Mali for the upgrading and asphalting of cross-border roads linking the two landlocked West African countries to Côte d'Ivoire.

A total of 242 km of road will be revamped in the two countries courtesy of funding from the Bank Group's concessional window and the Transition Support Facility (https://apo-opa.co/4f9eCGJ), a mechanism designed to provide additional concessional resources to eligible countries faced with situations of fragility and conflict. The Islamic Development Bank and the European Union are also co-financing the project to the tune of €138 million and €25 million respectively.

For Burkina Faso, the funding will enable the 155-km Bobo Dioulasso-Banfora-Côte d’Ivoire border road to be upgraded and reinforced, and the 42-km Banfora-Orodara section to be built. It will also make it possible for the 100-metre-long bridge spanning the Léraba River, which connects Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire, to be modernised and split into two lanes. In addition, 18 km of urban roads will be built in the secondary towns through which the main road passes, as will 50 km of rural roads, to stimulate the local economy and protect communities from the impact of climate change.

As for Mali, the Bank Group's €73.73 million backing is mainly earmarked for the upgrading and asphalting of the Bougouni-Garalo section of the Bougouni-Garalo-Manankoro-Côte d'Ivoire border road. This stretch is 45 km long.

The programme will be implemented over six years (2024-2030).

As landlocked countries, Burkina Faso and Mali rely heavily on overland corridors linking them to the seaports of neighbouring coastal countries for their international trade. The Abidjan-Bobo Dioulasso-Ouagadougou and Bamako-Man-San Pédro corridors give these two countries access to the ports of Abidjan and San Pédro in Côte d'Ivoire.

The project will improve the national and regional transport logistics chain, so as to stimulate intra-regional trade. More specifically, it will enhance service levels on the Bobo Dioulasso-Banfora-Côte d'Ivoire border community roads, including the Banfora-Orodara and Bougouni-Manankoro-Côte d'Ivoire border sections, ensure that the Léraba river can be crossed in all weather conditions, boost corridor performance by reducing non-tariff barriers, reduce red tape and border crossing times, and increase access to basic social and community services.

The programme, which was devised by adopting an integrated, multi-dimensional approach based on the nexus of regional integration/value chains/peace to maximise its impact on economic competitiveness, will, in tandem with various related developments, provide municipalities with socio-economic infrastructure to strengthen the resilience of the beneficiary populations. It will also support the implementation of community decisions regarding the facilitation of transport, improve the supply of affordable transport, increase the volume of trade within the two corridors, intensify local and regional economic activity via job creation, transform the localities and towns through which the road passes into economic hubs, and facilitate the fulfilment of the rich economic potential of the project area.

The project's area of direct influence, a large-scale agro pastoral zone where agriculture is combined with livestock-related activities, is home to a population of 4.51 million, or 6.28 per cent of the three countries’ total population.

It is home to large industrial units as well as small semi-industrial agri-food processing units. With global warming and the increasingly arid climate prevalent in the Sahelian regions, the area currently represents a magnet for livestock farmers and agro pastoralists in search of more favourable climate and ecological conditions.

Tourism also plays a crucial role in the local economy. Furthermore, mining activity is expanding in the area, with industrial (lithium, gold, etc.) and small-scale mines currently being established.

“The African Development Bank Group is a key partner in the financing of the transport sector in Burkina Faso and Mali,” said Lamin Barrow, the Bank's Director General for West Africa. “The construction of regional road infrastructure to community standards, allied with the development of urban and rural roads, and combined with training and the provision of equipment and tools for production and processing, will help to further the value chain in the transport sector and boost the economy by developing agricultural and animal resources throughout that chain.”

He added: “Strengthening the capacities of young people, women, and training centres and trade facilities, and making them operational, will help to increase productivity, process products and gain access to markets for those products, all the while helping to combat poverty.”