The Finance Minister, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, on Wednesday disclosed that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved that Nigeria should get $1.5 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the Lagos-Abidjan highway project.

The fund is part of the $13.5 million approved by the AfDB in 2016 to finance the project, according to the minister.

According to her, the approval was sequel to the memo by the Ministry of Finance seeking approval for a loan of $1.5 million from the AfDB to finance the multi-national Abidjan-Lagos corridor highway development project study.

Ahmed said that the multi-national project would be in six lanes, a dual carriageway highway that will involve five countries, including Nigeria, Republic of Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and the Togo.

The minister explained: “At the 42nd Ordinary Session of Heads of State meeting of the ECOWAS countries in 2013, this project was discussed and approved, the AfDB in 2016 approved the sum of $13.5 million for the whole of the project to finance, both the study in the form of a loan as well as the grant.

“So, this $13.5 million has been distributed among the participating countries and the component for Nigeria is $1.5 million. The project study can be commissioned towards the planning of the execution of the highway project itself”, Ahmed added.