Construction work on the Abidjan metro is progressing apace, announced Transport Minister Amadou Koné on Thursday, when he visited the site and gave assurances that the infrastructure would be delivered on schedule.

With a little more patience, Ivorians in Abidjan will see their long-awaited metro emerge from the ground. Transport Minister Amadou Koné, visiting the infrastructure construction site in the country's economic capital on Thursday, expressed his satisfaction with the progress of work on this urban transport system.

"In the southern part, the marine fibre optic cable and the sewage network are being treated. On the northern section, earthworks are also progressing. One earthworks project has been completed to relocate the Sitarail track, and another is being carried out at the same time wherever possible", the minister was pleased to note, quoted in a press release.

Accompanied by a team from Société ivoirienne de Construction du Métro d'Abidjan (SICMA), the member of the government spent some time on the section running from the Sitarail lagoon station to Anyama. On site, he noted that network relocations were almost complete, and earthworks well advanced.

Amadou Koné announced that next week, the train's design will be finalized by the manufacturer in order to start building the carriages, and also expressed confidence that civil engineering work would start in mid-2024.

The same source reports that 500 young people have been trained under the Ecole de la 2ème Chance (E2C) program run by the Ministry of Technical Education, Vocational Training and Apprenticeship.

The metro is a major project for the city of Abidjan, and will help improve traffic flow and mobility. It will be inaugurated at the end of 2026 and the beginning of 2027. The Minister assured that the delivery date will be maintained.

For local residents whose neighborhoods have been affected, investments are planned to create playgrounds.

As for compensation, things are going well and payments are generally being made on time, reassured the Minister. As a reminder, the Abidjan Metro, which stretches 37 km between Anyama and Port-Bouët, is expected to provide daily transport for over 500,000 passengers, with a train passing every two minutes.

Khadim Mbaye