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Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, shortlists firms to build 4th Mainland Bridge. RIP traffic jam?

Published

2 years ago

November 28, 2022

The state government of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, has shortlisted a consortium led by Portugal’s builder Mota-Engil and two Chinese ventures to build a $2.5 billion bridge.

An official of the government revealed that the construction of the bridge is expected to relieve severe congestion in the mega-city.

Lagos is currently home to what used to be the longest bridge in Africa, the Third Mainland Bridge, it was displaced from its position when the 6th October Bridge located in Cairo was completed.

The new project, dubbed Fourth Mainland Bridge, would be a 37-kilometre, to be built under a public-private partnership.

The bridge will include three toll plazas, nine interchanges, and a design speed of 120 kilometres per hour, said Jubril Gawat, a senior spokesperson for the Lagos state governor.

The governor’s spokesperson further revealed that the bid winner will be announced before the end of the year.

Lagos is a densely populated part of Nigeria with a special case of traffic congestion. The state’s population is said to be growing at a percentage rate that is 10 times faster than those of New York and Los Angeles cities in the United States of America.

Lagos currently accommodates 40 percent of the total registered vehicles in Nigeria.

Beyond addressing the traffic challenges of Lagos, the construction of the bridge will plug a big gap in Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit. Specifically for Lagos, Nigeria’s industrial hub, the state governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at a round table recently stressed that “given the rising population and limited geography space that we have, Lagos will indeed require about $15 billion over the next five years on infrastructure alone.

Related Topics:4th-Mainland-Bridge Featured Lagos Nigeria

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IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

3 days ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

5 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.