Out-Law News 2 min. read
03 Nov 2015, 12:03 pm
The proposed 1,000 kilometre railway would run north from Cote d’Ivoire’s port of San Pedro to Mali’s capital city, Bamako.
Italferr said the line is “of paramount importance for the development of passenger and goods transport in Cote d’Ivoire, which is one of the most up-and-coming nations” in West Africa.
A ‘protocol agreement’ for the feasibility study has been signed by Cote d’Ivoire’s government and Italferr, the firm said. The proposed railway would pass through “numerous mining and farming regions” before reaching Bamako.
The feasibility study will also look at associated developments needed to link the railway to the port and mining zones, Italferr said. If the railway construction is approved, Italferr said it would assist Cote d’Ivoire “in all further implementation stages of the project and its subsequent licensing phase”.
Cote d’Ivoire is among several countries in sub-Saharan Africa that are expected to see faster economic growth than any other region by 2040, according to a report by professional services firm PwC.
PwC said Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire’s economic capital, is one of the so-called ‘next 10’ cities in the region where foreign investors will be attracted to the “untapped potential” of opportunities.
Earlier this year, it was announced that work had begun on a Chinese-backed project to expand another of Cote d'Ivoire's ports in Abidjan. China, which is contributing 85% of the costs of the $1.12 billion project, said the aim was to turn the port into a major maritime transport hub for West Africa.
A World Bank report published last June (61-page / 1.56 MB PDF) said high transport and transit costs are “particularly acute in West Africa, where infrastructure is lacking”.
The report said: “The distances to ports and markets are large, particularly for land-locked countries; and the transport logistics system is hobbled by market distortions. Lowering transport costs becomes all the more important as African economies become more open, more externally focused, and increasingly engaged in and reliant on international trade as a source of growth and increasing prosperity. Efficient, safe and affordable transport services will be key to unleashing Africa’s productive potential.”
The African Development Bank (AfDB) pledged support for regional governments to kick start major railway infrastructure projects in its ‘Regional Integration Strategy Paper for West Africa for 2011-2015’ (64-page / 1.75 MB PDF).
The AfDB said: “The development of railways in West Africa is an undertaking which cannot be initiated by the private sector. Governments must play a lead role in conceptualising and financing these capital intensive investments.”
“It is recognised that the investment costs are huge, but the potential benefits are so huge that some creative thinking needs to be done to meet this challenge,” the AfDB said. The private sector can come in at a later stage.”
According to Ventures Africa, Mali is looking to $9.5bn worth of regional railway projects to help open up its economy “as improved transport links would attract investors to under-explored resources such as iron ore, bauxite and uranium that are bulkier and more costly to transport than gold, the country’s current economic mainstay”.
