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Governance of Transport Corridors in OIC Member States:

Challenges, Cases and Policy Lessons

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Development Bank. Although only one major project is planned, this development is a major step

forward as the Member States agreed upon a legal basis and the establishment of a dedicated corridor

secretariat (ALCoMA), which paves the way for many more projects the come. The establishment of

ALCoMA foresees that after the end of the support of the African Development Bank, which includes

financing of one-year of operations of ALCoMA, the PMSs through ECOWAS will take full responsibility

for the long-term financing of its operations from other resources. One of the main operational

challenges for ALC in the coming years is to harmonize technical standards

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.

Some lessons learned are:

Without a proper binding legal or institutional framework, one cannot expect the formulation and

implementation of effective measures to achieve the formulated objectives;

international cooperation, primarily with support from ECOWAS and AfDB, significantly

accelerated the developments in the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor;

Foreign donors are often needed to start-up processes of significant changes.

Good practice of corridor governance

The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor management organisation is established around one specific project, the

development of a highway along the whole length of the corridor. A corridor secretariat is established

to facilitate the development of more projects in the future. The following good practices can be noted:

Similar to SEETO and TRACECA, international organisations played a decisive role in the

establishment of the corridor. This once more showcases the importance of having an international

organisation facilitating the development process.

Moreover, the project-based approach of ALC is an example of how to develop a corridor from the

bottom up rather than the top-down approach used in, for example, the UNESCAP corridors, TEN-

T, TRACECA and SEETO. Instead of defining a broad range of objectives, ALC starts bottom up,

creating institutions that facilitate one specific project, leaving open the possibility of expending

the institutions in the future. In particular for the initial stages of corridor development, it should

be kept in mind that establishing the right governance is not only about creating governance

institutions for the sake of creating institutions. The governance model should fit with the

objectives and ambition of the members.

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https://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/the-abidjan-lagos-corridor-a-pida-flagship-programme-and-catalyst-for- economic-growth-in-west-africa-16078/.