Bouygues leads Ivory Coast road contract

Consortium Socoprim, which is led by Bouygues Travaux Publics, has won the US$ 290 million contract to design and build a 6.4 km long highway in the Ivory Coast.

The road will serve the port of Abidjan and will incorporate the 1.5 km long Henri Konan Bedié bridge and the Valéry Giscard d'Estaing interchange. At present, 200000 vehicles a day travel to the port, using the two existing bridges over the lagoon.

The other shareholders of Socoprim are Total CI, PAIDF, the Ivory Coast government and the national investment bank BNI.

The Henri Konan Bedié bridge will consist of two three-lane carriageways. It will link two of the city's major districts, Riviera (in the north) and Marcory. When completed, 100000 vehicles per day will be able to use the new road infrastructure.

Constructuion work will start in September, with completion expected by the end of 2014.

The Socoprim project represents one of the first concessions in West Africa, with financing secured from banks in the region, including the African Development Bank, the West African Development Bank and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development.