Abubakar Hashim, Freetown
President Bio is currently at the 2 day gathering of the Africa Investment Forum AIF in Marrakesh, Morocco, from 8 to 10 November. He will proceed to the Saudi-Africa summit In Riyad tomorrow, for another 2 day investment summit, from 10 to 11.
Top on his agenda is the proposed Lungi bridge. Though it was not part of President Bio’s manifesto, it is now top most of his priority agenda, along the “Feed Salone” project.
How Lungi Bridge Will Transform S/Leone Econmy
For over 62 years since the country gained independence from Britain, the airport has been across the peninsula at Lungi.
The capital city of Freetown is on the other part of the estuary. It is about 12 nautical miles apart, from coast to coast, with severe challenges, in terms of seamless transfer from the airport to the city.
For one to get to Sierra Leone, you have to exhaust virtually all modes of transportation, air, sea and land, which is not acceptable to attract investments. This puts the bridge top most in Bio’s agenda.
Secondly, the area the airport is located, Port Loko, has the highest GDP ratio per productivity, because of the iron ore mining and agricultural activities in the area. This is where the importance of the proposed bridge comes in too, not only for the airport, but also for goods, services and the people.
The bridge will be 8 km long, with a design lifespan of 120 years, with an estimated cost at 1.2 Billion Dollars.
This huge sum, according to Dr John Edward Tambi, who is the Chairman and CEO of the Presidential Infrastructure Initiative PII, in an exclusive interview with this medium, will be on Build Operate Transfer BOT or Duty Of Transfer DOT basis.
The government will not spend a dime on the construction. According to Tambi, the bridge can pay for itself between 10 to 18 years, even if there is change of government. According to Tambi, “ The cash flow of the bridge is the guarantee and the asset is the security”. So the asset is owned by the investors that put in the money on BOT or DOT basis. The investors will then transfer ownership to government upon completion of the duration of operations.
The economic benefits are immense. No government will shy away from this development, as the project is aimed to develop the people. This is how many governments run huge projects of this magnitude.
The bridge will be above ships travelling along the channel.
A new city, a new industrial hub , to be named a free trade zone, with a size of about 5,000 acres, with hotels and auxiliary services, will be established in Lungi.
Additionally, the bridge will provide 5,000 jobs for the people per year. The construction period is between 4 to 6 years.
The bridge will, definitely, transform the economic landscape of the country when completed.