The Libreville-Brazzaville road and transport facilitation Project will mainly consist of : (i) the construction of the Ndendé-Doussala section (49 km) in Gabon, (ii) the rehabilitation of the Ngongo-Kibangou section (132 km), and the construction of the Kibangou-Dolisie section (93 km) in Congo. In addition to the road construction component, the Project includes components related to transport and trade facilitation in order to ensure that the anticipated benefits of time and cost savings, improved logistics and trade actually result from the development of the infrastructure. The facilitation measures include the construction of a joint border post and bridge as well as the lifting of non-physical barriers (harmonisation of customs procedures, etc.), which will likely induce a substantial increase in the volume of trade (mostly agricultural and pastoral products) between the two countries and lead to a significant drop in transport costs.
The EU-AITF Technical Assistance grant will be used to finance the recruitment of an international consulting firm to strengthen the existing project management capacity at ECCAS for the implementation of this multinational project. It will enable a rapid start-up, ensure effective implementation of the project and prevent significant procurement and contract management delays seen in previous multinational transport projects. In addition, the grant will enable the establishment of a joint border post between the two countries and of a human-wildlife conflict management system for the Mont Reserve Fouari at the Congo-Gabon border.