World Bank Plans $200m Togo Transport Programme, Including Lome-Adetikope Rail Rehabilitation

The World Bank is preparing a roughly $200 million multi-sector transport programme for Togo that includes rehabilitation of the freight railway linking the Autonomous Port of Lome with the Adetikope Industrial Platform (PIA), alongside road upgrades and urban mobility improvements in Greater Lome, according to project documentation cited by International Railway Journal, Railways Africa and Togo First. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is co-financing a separate $75 million tranche, according to AIIB's own project page, which currently lists the initiative as still at the proposal stage.

The rail component, part of Togo's Transport Connectivity and Logistics Improvement Project, would upgrade the line to carry containers between the port and the PIA, a dry-port and industrial zone located 27km north of Lome that has operated since January 2022 with capacity for up to 12,500 containers. Rail access is intended to shift freight off congested roads connecting the port to the platform, which also serves neighbouring landlocked countries.

The World Bank's International Development Association is expected to provide the bulk of financing, with AIIB co-financing $75 million. No rail-specific budget breakdown or completion date has yet been disclosed in available project documentation, and the programme remains subject to final approval.