Multinational - Rosso Bridge Construction Project

The proposed project is an appropriate response to the lack of a permanent crossing structure between the two banks of the Senegal River, which constitutes the natural border between Senegal and Mauritania, constituting an impediment to the implementation of economic development and regional integration policies. Its design is based on Bank-financed feasibility studies finalized in 2015, which confirmed the need for this regional integration flagship infrastructure. The construction of a bridge on the Senegal River at Rosso, coupled with the implementation of transport and trade facilitation measures, should lead to: (i) a substantial increase in passenger and goods traffic between the two banks; and (ii) the development of transport activities along the Tangiers-Lagos and Algiers-Dakar trans-African corridors, as well as between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. The Rosso Bridge will replace the ferry services of the Mauritania Ferry Corporation which currently connects the two banks of the Senegal River, but the services are inefficient due to the low capacity of the ferries and their schedules. The poor crossing conditions slow down the movement of people and goods, leading to high transaction costs which in turn hinder national and regional trade. In addition to its contribution to regional integration, the project will have a significant effect in terms of reducing the extremely high incidence of poverty in the project area in Senegal and Mauritania (respectively 39.5% and 32.2%). The project will facilitate accessibility to the production areas of products as well as the marketing of such products between the two countries and to the outside world. The implementation will run from November 2016 to December 2020. The total project cost, exclusive of taxes and customs duties (ETCD), is estimated at UA 69.89 million.