COMMUNITY GEARING UP FOR PROGRESS AS RENOVATED LOMÉ-COTONOU ROAD SLASHES TRAVEL TIMES
September 5, 2023 logistafrica

Matthew Antwi is a haulier and works for a Nigerian business that exports coconuts. He regularly drives the Lomé-Cotonou road from his home country Ghana to deliver the nuts to Nigeria.

“A few years ago, it took around two hours to complete all the formalities at the border and up to three hours to get to Aflao (on the border between Togo and Ghana) from the Benin-Togo border-control post,” That was because of the poor state of the section of road between Lomé and Cotonou,” recounts the driver, seated in the cab of his truck. “But now it’s been renovated, it takes between one and two hours. It’s better for me because I waste less time, and the lighting at night means I feel calmer when driving in the dark.”

Émile Elavagnon is a carpenter in the town of Togokomè, in Togo, which is served by the Avépozo-Aného section. He, too, has a history with the road: “When the works began, we had to clear the road, which meant we lost a lot of customers. But now that it’s usable, we’ve seen some really positive changes,” he grins, adding: “We now have more customers coming from Benin and Ghana, and a lot more visibility. Delivery times are shorter because the road is better. Our deliveries to Lomé used to take us an hour, but now they take a maximum of 45 minutes,” says a delighted Mr Elavagnon.

Matthew and Émile are two of the many people to benefit from the second phase of the Lomé-Cotonou Road Rehabilitation and Coastal Protection Project (https://apo-opa.info/44BmXOj). The project, funded jointly by the African Development Bank, the European Union, the West African Development Bank (BOAD), the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), is a vector for development, regional integration and improving the living conditions of the beneficiary populations.

The total cost of the project (US$194.89 million) was funded by the African Development Bank Group (US$39.47 million) in loans and donations from the African Development Fund and the Transition Support Facility, a donation of US$19.48 million from the European Union and contributions in the form of loans or donations from the BOAD, the IsDB and the GEF.

Works associated with renovating the road allowed the refurbishment of the medical and community centre in Agbodrafo and the secondary school in Aného (Togo), to the delight of their inhabitants. As a result, as well as improving driving conditions for hauliers and users, the project has helped improve the everyday lives of local people.

Following the renovation of the road, our business is doing well, and our living conditions are better, and that’s very motivating

Youmane Fernando Loagui, head of the laboratory at the medical and community centre in Agbodrafo, comments: “Following the refurbishment of the medical centre, staff are now working in better conditions and our ability to welcome and care for patients has improved significantly. Equipment and pharmaceutical products are stored in complete safety,” he explains, before continuing: “There’s now more space, patients feel more comfortable, and their privacy can be respected. We still remember how people used to complain about how cramped the premises were. Maintaining confidentiality was a big issue for us, particularly for patients living with HIV/AIDS, because they often want to remain anonymous. All that now belongs in the past.”

An aerial view of the Togokomè-Avépozo section of the Lomé-Cotonou road, built thanks to support from the African Development Bank, the European Union and other partners
The refurbished laboratory in Agbodrafo is attracting more people and it is now considered one of the best in the project area.

“We realise the positive impact that infrastructure can have on the living conditions of local people. Following the renovation of the road, our business is doing well, and our living conditions are better, and that’s very motivating,” comments Mr Elavagnon.

The Lomé-Cotonou Road Rehabilitation and Coastal Protection Project (Phase 2) is a flagship infrastructure project in Togo and is aligned with two of the Bank’s five strategic priorities, namely “Integrate Africa” and “Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa”.

It is contributing to enhancing the level of service in the transport logistics chain and keeping traffic flowing on the corridor between Abidjan and Lagos, as well as improving the living conditions of residents in the project’s intervention area.

The project is also strengthening the resilience to climate change of infrastructure in the coastal areas of Togo and Benin. The project provides a direct benefit to transport users and indirectly benefits 1.7 million people in the two countries.

About the African Development Bank Group:
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is the premier multilateral financing institution dedicated to Africa’s development. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NSF). The AfDB has a field presence in 41 African countries, with an external office in Japan, and contributes to the economic development and social progress of its 54 regional member states. For more information: www.AfDB.org

Written by Mwansa Chola ( Senior Marketer at Hazida Motors Limited)

Hazida Motors Limited celebrates 29 years of representing the world’s best commercial vehicle manufacturer, Scania in Zambia. Scania is not just a vehicle, it is a sustainable business solution that is designed for your individual business needs.

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A great challenge about vehicles that are not designed for our terrain is that you have a significant increase in costs. The cost of wear and tear, the cost of downtime and the cost of operations will become unsustainable.

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Members of the Liebherr family, Executive Management and Newport News city officials gathered last Friday, July 20th for a groundbreaking ceremony on site in Copeland Industrial Park to celebrate the construction of the new Liebherr USA, Co. headquarters. “The commencement of this $45 million expansion project marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Liebherr in the United States. The company, that has been manufacturing and operating in Newport News, VA for over 48 years, broke ground at the site adjacent to its current location.”

The new facility will serve as the new headquarters for Liebherr USA, Co. and will include the construction of three new buildings: a state–of-the-art four-story administrative building, a carefully designed warehouse and parts distribution centre to meet current and future requirements, and a modernised production and workshop facility intended to support the company’s cranes, construction and concrete divisions. Once completed, the new buildings will add over 251,000 square feet to the existing 560,000 square foot Liebherr campus. “This investment will greatly impact the company’s operations in the US and drive Liebherr’s strategy for long-term growth.

With shovels in hand, Sophie Albrecht, Jan Liebherr, Newport News Mayor McKinley Price, Managing Directors of Liebherr USA, Co., its building partners and government officials broke ground during the ceremony. “The US is a strategic market for Liebherr and with this investment we send a clear message of commitment to our customers, employees and the local community here in
Newport News,” said Torben Reher, Managing Director of Liebherr USA, Co.

Together with the robotics and AI team at Luleå University of Technology and the technology company Algoryx, Epiroc is initiating the ReNAM project to push the development of autonomous mining even further. The project will utilise simulations and apply state-of-the-art research on Epiroc’s underground mining machines “to enable the next level of autonomy and safety.”

The ReNAM project will develop and validate advanced sensor technology and autonomous control technology for mining vehicles. The project has received funding from the Swedish innovation agency Vinnova and will run from 2023 to the end of 2025.

“Through this partnership, we are contributing to a new generation of machines with improved autonomy capabilities. This is an exciting addition to the on-going development of our automation offering, which helps to further improve safety and productivity for our customers” says Åsa Gabrielsson, VP Research & Development at Epiroc’s Underground division.

As a first step, realistic digital twins of mining machines and surroundings will be modelled in a physics-based simulation environment. Once the sensor- and AI-equipped virtual mining machines have been developed to the point where they can solve tasks safely and reliably in the digitally simulated environment, the next step is to transfer the developed control systems to Epiroc’s mining machine and have it perform the same tasks in a real, physical test mine.

“Through realistic simulations and with safety in mind, where the AI can be trained on the whole system, the machine that is, with its environment and real forces, contacts and behaviours, the outcome will be superior to most projects we see in the world. In order to be successful, collaboration between universities, high-tech, and industrial companies is extremely important,” says Urban Wikman, Business Director at Algoryx.

“We are doing so much more than autonomy, essentially, we are accelerating machines to a new level of technology. The overall quality of Swedish mines, efficiency and safety will be unparalleled,” says George Nikolakopoulos, Chair Professor of Robotics and AI, at Luleå University of Technology.

The goal of the project is to develop and validate two use cases that can lay a foundation for future robotics research and contribute to Epiroc’s future development of commercial products with fully developed machine autonomy.