There is no development of a country without quality infrastructure (roads, highways, bridges, ports, airports, etc.) capable of facilitating the movement of people, goods and especially goods within the internal framework but also for import and export operations.
Despite this major role, Africa is faced with serious deficits in road infrastructure, all obstacles to any development. To fill these gaps, initiatives have been taken within the African Union with the adoption of a road map intended to contribute to the establishment of highways connecting the different countries of the continent.
Thus, several road and highway corridors to connect the major regions of the continent have been launched including Cairo-Dakar, Algiers-Lagos, Tripoli-Cape Town, Cairo-Cape Town, Dakar-N’Djamena, N’Djamena-Djibouti, Dakar-Lagos, Lagos-Mombasa, Beira-Lobito… If several axes of these corridors have been totally or partially completed, others are only at the beginning of their realization.
In this context, and to accelerate these projects while accentuating the network of their territory by quality motorways, many countries have launched, in recent years, motorway projects to densify their internal networks and extend them to the borders of their neighbors.
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Three countries seem to stand out: Nigeria which wishes to catch up, Morocco committed to densifying its motorway network before the 2030 World Cup which it will co-organize with Spain and Portugal, and Angola which wishes to establish itself as a hub logistics for southern and central African countries rich in mineral resources but without access to the ocean.
Other countries have embarked on regional highway projects to better ensure their economic integration, such as those of ECOWAS which will soon launch the Abidjan-Lagos corridor.
Nigeria: thousands of kilometers of highways announced
If Nigeria’s first highway linking Lagos-Ibadan was inaugurated in 1978, the most populous country in Africa with more than 230 million inhabitants subsequently suffered enormous delays and displayed a notable infrastructure deficit. Faced with this situation, the new authorities have announced numerous highway projects. The policy is expected to benefit the 36 states of the Federation of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Thousands of kilometers of highways have been announced and some projects have even started.
Prominent among these is the construction of the Sokoto-Badagry highway over 1,068 km to connect the South of Nigeria and the North-West of the country. This corridor, which will cross several states of the country, should be delivered in 2027 and help ensure a connection between the North and the South of the country.
Morocco will complete 1,200 km by the 2030 World Cup, which it co-organizes with Spain and Portugal, and increase its motorway network to 3,000 km. Among the flagship projects: the Rabat-Casablanca mainland (60 km), Guercif-Nador (105 km), Tiznit-Guelmim (114 km)…. DR
The other flagship project will connect Lagos, the economic capital located in the South-West, to Calabar in the South-East of the country, near the border with Cameroon. This highway will extend from Victoria Island, Lagos, Calabar, Cross River State through Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom States, before ending in Calabar, with a length of around 700 km. Its construction, costing $2 billion, began in May 2024 and is expected to last nearly 8 years.
Several other highway projects have been launched including the Calabar-Abuja axis (119 km) to connect the states of Cross River, Benue, Kogi and Nasarawa, but also the Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe axis (439 km),…
Alongside the highway projects, new roads will complete the ongoing projects announced by the Nigerian state and which concerns the construction of 35,000 km of roads as part of the new road map aimed at making up for the country’s delay.
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Once these sections are completed, Nigeria will be among the African countries best equipped with highways. These different axes should have a significant impact on the agriculture, tourism and trade sectors. These highways mark the start of a new chapter of development and prosperity for the country. They will significantly contribute to strengthening regional integration in West Africa.
Morocco: 1,200 km more highways before the 2030 World Cup
Since its creation, Autoroutes du Maroc (ADM) has invested more than 55 billion dirhams and completed more than 1,800 km. To accelerate the development of its road infrastructure, Morocco has developed a new road map for 2035. Following the message from King Mohammed VI, sent on November 8, 2023 to participants in the 4th edition of the Forum for Investment in Africa, a plan to extend the Kingdom’s motorway network was announced covering 3,000 km by 2030, or more than 1,200 additional km of motorways.
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Among the projects announced are the construction of the Rabat-Casablanca mainland (60 km) for 5 billion dirhams, the Tit Mellil-Berrechid highway (31 km) for a value of 1.35 billion dirhams and the construction of junctions Sid Maârouf and Aïn Harouda (30 km). There is also talk of the Guercif-Nador highway (105 km) of 5 billion dirhams to connect the Port of Nador West Med to the Fez-Oujda highway, the Safi bypass (18.5 km) of 900 million dirhams and that of Agadir (80 km) for a value of 3.7 billion dollars. Finally, the conversion of the expressway into a highway on the Tiznit-Guelmim axis (114 km) is also on the program.
-Among the projects announced also include Tangier/Tétouan-Fès-Meknès (255 km), for an amount of 18.5 billion dirhams, Fez/Meknès-Khénifra/Béni Mellal, Béni Mellal-Kelâat Sraghna-Marrakech, eastern bypass of Marrakech , Marrakech-Safi, Marrakech-Ouarzazate, Port Safi South-Essaouira and the Rabat bypass.
These various highway projects will connect all the major cities of the Kingdom to the highway network. This will make travel and internal and external commercial exchanges more fluid.
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In addition to these highway projects, there is also the 950 km Tiznit-Dakhla expressway, costing around 10 billion dirhams, and whose construction has been completed. This expressway is in reality a real highway with 2 x 2 lanes for a large part of the route which crosses the Saharan provinces of Morocco. This expressway will be supplemented by the 450 km Dakhla-Guerguerat axis which will connect Morocco to the Mauritanian border. A strategic axis for the Atlantic Initiative for the Sahel.
Angola project: a structuring highway axis of 1,400 km
Among the country’s flagship projects is the one to connect Soyo, on the border with the DRC, to Santa Clara located in the far south of the country on the border with Namibia. This is a project with a length of approximately 1,400 km intended to connect the southern and northern regions of the country by crossing the provinces of Zaire, Uige, Cuanza Norte, Cuanza Sul, Benguela, Huila and Cunene.
In addition, this highway will have a major regional integrating role knowing that sections are also planned to connect Angola to neighboring countries such as Namibia, Zambia and the Republic of Congo.
A memorandum of understanding with China Road & Bridge Corporation (CRBC) to carry out the feasibility study was recently signed. These studies will have to last one year and the implementation phase is planned for the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026. The cost of this transnational highway is estimated at nearly 2.5 billion dollars.
This important highway will complement the rail infrastructure of the Lopito corridor which will connect the Angolan port of Lobito to the southern regions of the DRC and north-western Zambia to form an integrated transport system. These axes will unlock the region’s enormous potential and improve export opportunities for Angola, the DRC and Zambia.
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With these highways and the Lobito corridor (railway), Angola is positioning itself as a future regional logistics hub in southern and central Africa by facilitating the movement of people, goods and above all the supply of minerals to the rest of the world. critical (cobalt, copper, etc.) coming from the DRC and Zambia via its ports.
The Abidja-Lagos highway: an axis to connect the coastal countries of ECOWAS
In addition to national projects, we also note the development of regional highway projects. Among these is that of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which will eventually connect Dakar, the capital of Senegal, to Lagos, the economic capital of Nigeria. In the meantime, this important project will begin with the Abidjan-Lagos axis.
With a length of 1,028 km, this West African highway will connect the main cities of Ivory Coast (Abidjan), Ghana (Takoradi and Accra), Togo (Lomé), Benin (Cotonou) and Nigeria (Lagos). In detail, the main sections of this highway are: Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)-Takoradi (Ghana), 295 km; Takoradi (Ghana)-Akanu (Ghana), 466 km and Noepe (Togo)-Cotonou (Benin)-Lagos (Nigeria), 320 km. This highway will connect cities with a total population of around 40 million inhabitants and, above all, concentrate nearly 75% of the region’s commercial activities.
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This structuring project, the route of which has now been validated by ECOWAS, includes axes of 6 lanes (2×3) and even 8 lanes (2×4) in Nigeria. It is a major sub-regional integration project linking 5 coastal countries: Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast. Completion of this important project is scheduled for 2030.
The start of construction of this coastal motorway corridor is scheduled for 2026. On the financing side, ECOWAS countries have obtained financing promises for an amount of $15.6 billion from numerous donors.
Once completed, this highway will be extended in a second phase to Dakar, Senegal, passing through Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Gambia.
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