Mano River Union Road Development and Transport Facilitation Programme, Phase II

In September 2018, the AfDB Board approved the Multi-Mano River Union Road Development and Transportation Facilitation Programme, Phase II a regional initiative to develop and pave a total of 67.1 km of road linking South-eastern Liberia and the western part of Cote D’Ivoire. According to project documents, the program objective is to provide efficient road transport access to South East and North West counties of Liberia and the western part of Côte d’Ivoire.

According to the Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP), the project will benefit road users, transporters, farmers, the project area population of about 790,000 inhabitants, and especially marginalized groups such as women and children who constitute the majority of the population in the project area. The indirect beneficiaries are the people of the two program countries and of the neighboring countries, especially Guinea and, by extension, West African countries.

In 2023, the Committee for Peace and Development Advocacy (COPDA), with technical support from BIC, started to monitor the impact of the road construction on both the environment and the communities.