Lagos State is the African metropolitan area with the largest population at over 23 million inhabitants. The transport needs in the city are huge yet, it remains essentially road-based resulting in very heavy traffic congestion. This has large social, economic, and environmental costs. However, Lagos has an extensive network of waterways which could be used for sustainable, safe, fast, and comfortable transport services to reduce road congestion and air pollution and improve connectivity in the city and wider region.

The Project/what we are doing about this challenge:

The WIDE-LAG project, financed by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), aims to support Lagos State and the Lagos State Waterways Agency (LASWA) in developing mass-transportation on the public waterways in Lagos. Adam Smith Europe is responsible for the Preliminary Engineering Design & Costing Package.

This involves preparing feasibility studies to select the priority inland waterway routes, as well as preliminary engineering designs for ferry terminals, navigation channels, and shipyards.

These studies will provide the basis of the future ferry network and associated facilities. In this project, we focus on both adaptation and mitigation. With rising sea-levels, boats provide a means of transport that adapts to change, whilst the project aims to use low-emission vessels.

What the project intends to achieve:

• Adam Smith Europe (ASE) will prepare design for terminals, shipyards, and navigation channels for five priority routes which will transport over 1.5 million passengers a year.