The Government of Burkina Faso has officially launched the project to rehabilitate the Bobo-Dioulasso-Banfora-Côte d’Ivoire border and construct the Banfora-Olodara road (PReBBO), located in the Haut-Bassin and Cascades regions on the border between Côte d’Ivoire and Mali.
The plan was launched during a technical workshop held in Ouagadougou in mid-December. Construction work has not yet been ordered.
The PReBBO project includes the improvement and reinforcement of the 155km Bobo-Dioulasso-Banfora-Ivory Coast border road, as well as the construction of the 42km Banfora-Olodara ramp, which is part of the Bobo-Dioulasso-Banfora-Mali border road, also known as community road CU7B.
Source: Project ESIA Report, January 2024
Additionally, the 100-meter-long bridge over the Leraba River, which connects Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, will be modernized and split into two lanes. Additionally, 8km of roads will be built in Bobo-Dioulasso, 10km of roads will be paved in five municipalities, a metering and toll booth will be installed in Peni, and 50km of rural roads will be constructed.
The Bobo-Dioulasso-Banfora-Côte d’Ivoire border road is one of the main axes in southwestern Burkina Faso, used for the evacuation of people and goods coming primarily from the Ivorian port of Abidjan, as well as agricultural and industrial products from the Haut-Bassin and Cascades regions.
Meanwhile, the construction of the Banfora-Olodara ramp is expected to reduce the cost and time of transporting goods from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, and help increase cross-border trade between regional countries.
Source: Project Evaluation Report, 2021
In mid-June 2024, the Ministry of Infrastructure, through the Permanent Secretariat of the Transport Sector Program (SP-PST), issued a call for updates on the study and expressions of interest (EoI) from consultants to oversee the work on the road section. The submission deadline was July 12th.
The implementation period of the consulting service for the Bobo-Dioulasso-Banfora section is 26 months. On the Banfora-Olodara road, the service is expected to run for 20 months
Prior to this, SP-PST called for pre-qualification applications for construction work on the road section in April 2024. The final deadline for submission was June 18th. The expected construction period is 24 months for Lot 1 and 18 months for Lot 2, including the rainy season.
The PReBBO project has a total cost of USD 267 million and is funded by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the European Union, the Government of Burkina Faso, and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
In late November 2024, the AfDB approved a €83 million loan to Burkina Faso for the PReBBO scheme. The bank also approved a €73.7 million loan to neighboring Mali for road construction connecting it to Ivory Coast. The two plans are grouped together under Phase 1 of the Multinational Community Road Interconnection and Transportation Facilitation Program.
The funding will enable the Malian authorities to rehabilitate and asphalt the 45km Bugouuni-Galaro section of the first lot of the 119km Bugouuni-Galaro-Manankoro-Côte d’Ivoire border road project. The route is part of the Bamako-Bougouni-Odienne-San Pedro corridor, which connects Mali’s landlocked capital Bamako with the port of San Pedro in Ivory Coast.
The general objective of the project is to ensure the opening up of Mali to the outside world and to promote regional mobility in the West African region. Specifically, the plan aims to facilitate permanent road connectivity between Mali and the port of San Pedro in Ivory Coast.
Source: Project ESIA Report, June 2024
The Malian government is also considering renovating and asphalting the 37 km border route between Galaro and Folaraba under Lot 2, and the 32 km between Folaraba, Manankoro and Ivory Coast under Lot 3. The West African Development Bank (BOAD), IsDB and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) are conducting due diligence to begin arranging financing for these sections and the planned joint border control post. (JBCP) At Manankoro.
In addition, 10km of urban roads will be developed in Bugowuni, Galaro and Manankoro regions, in addition to 90km of rural roads. The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure.
Both road projects in Burkina Faso and Mali are expected to take effect by May and be completed by December 2030. The area directly affected by both projects covers a large agro-pastoral area with a combination of agriculture and livestock-related activities, and is home to 4.5 million people, representing 6.3% of the total population of the three countries.
Top photo: Road construction in Burkinabe (Source: Facebook@Burkinabe Ministry of Infrastructure)
