AfDB approves $59.8 mln for Kara-Kabou corridor upgrade

Investments

Tuesday, 02 June 2026 17:34

AfDB approves $59.8 mln for Kara-Kabou corridor upgrade

(Togo First) - The African Development Bank (AfDB) will disburse $59.78 million to finance the rehabilitation of the Kara-Kabou border road section between Benin and Togo. The funding was approved in May by the Board of Directors of the African Development Fund in Abidjan.

The Togolese section of the 78.8-kilometer corridor will receive $50.28 million from the African Development Fund, the AfDB Group's concessional lending arm. Benin will receive $9.5 million.

The project covers the rehabilitation of the road linking the Benin border to Kabou through Ouaké, Kémérida, Soundjina, Kara and Djamdé. The road will be rebuilt as a two-lane carriageway with 3.5-meter-wide lanes. The section passing through the city of Kara will be widened to six lanes to improve traffic flow. The project also includes the construction and rehabilitation of socioeconomic and educational infrastructure in communities along the route.

According to the African Development Bank, the project aims to improve mobility along a strategic trade corridor linking the two countries and support regional economic integration.

"This vital corridor will help strengthen economic competitiveness, improve connectivity for inland regions in Benin and Togo, and strengthen regional integration," said Lamin Barrow, the AfDB's Director General for West Africa.

The operation is the first phase of the Transit Road Rehabilitation and Transport Facilitation Project on the CU18 corridor. It is jointly financed by the African Development Bank Group, the Islamic Development Bank, the West African Economic and Monetary Union, and the governments of Togo and Benin.

Esaïe Edoh

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