Afdb, ECOWAS To Support Sealink Project

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the ECOWAS Commission have reiterated their support for the establishment of a sealink project to help deepen trade in the West African sub-region.
Resident Representative, African Development Bank , Dr Ousmane Dore, made this known at Sealink Investors Forum in Accra, on Monday.
The project is the initiative of NEXIM bank in collaboration with the Federation of the West and Central Africa Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FEWACCI), and an Integrated Logistic Services provider (TRANSIMEX) based in Cameroon to help facilitate regional trade.
The 60 million dollar project is expected to take off by 2014.
“This investors forum is also timely in the sense that it aligns with the clarion call for Africa’s transformation by the president of the African Development Bank Group, Dr Donald Kaberuka, during the bank’s Annual General Meeting held in Marrakesh last month.
“The AfDB is thus pleased to join other development partners and agencies, investors and entrepreneurs today to take part in this high level discussion on how to finance the creation of regional maritime shipping company,’’ he said.
He said that establishing the company would further bridge the resource endowed continent’s artificial boundaries through seamless and logistic services in the region.
According to him, two central pillars of the bank’s long term strategy are infrastructure development and regional integration.
He added that in spite of the significant role of maritime services in infrastructure transformation of the continent, efforts made by individual countries have not yielded the desired result.
He added that low investment and lack of coordinated effort have remained largely the cause of under performance in

the sector.
“The establishment of the sealink promotional company Limited as the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to drive the establishment of the regional maritime shipping company is, therefore, meaningful and innovative in identifying ways and resources required to actualise the project.''
ECOWAS Commission Vice President, Dr Toga Mcintosh, said that the commission would continue to support efforts

that would help deepen trade in the region.
He said that a lot of challenges had hindered regional integration, adding that the presidents of various countries and the ECOWAS heads of states meeting have agreed to reduce those challenges.
He said that trade and investment was one of the major focal points of ECOWAS, saying “Sealink is one project that we hope will facilitate regional integration’’.
“It will be one of the viable companies in the continent, but it will need collaboration of all to achieve this objective.
“We will continue to lay our full support, it is in line with the regional development,’’ he said.
Mcintosh also said that the commission had in view to introduce a regional identity card for easy identification.
He called for effective and strong private sector support to ensure successful take-off of the project.
The Chairman, House Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Related Matters, Mr Jones Onyeriri, said that