A USD 4.29 million grant has been approved by the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) Governing Committee during its meeting in Beijing on 22 October to support the preparation of the Greater Abidjan Freight Barge Transport Development Project in Côte d’Ivoire. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will implement the project.
The MCDF grant will finance activities that strengthen the project’s sustainability. The initiative aims to establish a barge corridor along the Ébrié Lagoon, linking a planned terminal platform with the Autonomous Port of Abidjan, the largest seaport in West Africa. By shifting cargo movement from roads to lagoon barges, the project seeks to improve port access, increase cargo-handling capacity, reduce road congestion, and boost regional trade flows extending to landlocked countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.
The MCDF grant will pay for a pre-investment study that will look at the project’s technical, economic, financial, and contractual framework. It will also do a preliminary environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA). Alongside this, the MCDF will support an ESIA that includes baseline data collection, impact evaluation, an environmental and social management plan, a resettlement plan, stakeholder engagement, and ongoing monitoring and reporting.
The grant will also cover technical and procurement peer review activities. A port engineering specialist and a procurement and concessions expert will be engaged to ensure high-quality project preparation aligned with the pre-investment study and ESIA outcomes.
These efforts will help Côte d’Ivoire’s first major barging project safeguard the lagoon ecosystem and protect local communities and livelihoods. They will also ensure compliance with AIIB’s policies and standards for potential financing of lagoon access dredging and terminal construction. Furthermore, the groundwork will support a public-private partnership model for operating the terminal and potential barge services in the future.
source: maritimafrica.com
