The 8,715 km trans-African highway linking Dakar (Senegal) to Djibouti (Djibouti) will traverse 10 West, Central and East African countries, according to a document made available to PANA on Wednesday in Addis Ababa.
The document said the highway, which would combine the Dakar- N’Djamena link with the Djibouti-N’Djamena link, will pass through Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Sudan and Ethiopia.
A pre-feasibility study of the project finalised last December highlighted its socio-economic and environmental aspects, while insisting on the need to establish the viability of the road and railway in the construction of the corridor.
The Dakar-Djibouti trans-African highway is expected, according to its promoters, to help support the development of road transport in Africa, ensure the free movement of people and goods, improve imports and exports in land-locked countries, strengthen intra-African trade and encourage greater complementarity between the road and the railway on the continent.
The corridor between Senegal and Djibouti is part of the seven regional infrastructure projects coming within the framework of the Presidential Infrastructure Promotion Initiative (IPPI) launched by the AU and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AU/NEPAD).
A group of eight countries was set up, under the chairmanship of the South African head of state, Jacob Zuma, to bring any political support needed to the continent’s willingness to be equipped with transnational infrastructure.
Member countries of this group will meet in Addis Ababa on the eve of the 18th AU summit whose central theme will be intra-African trade.
