Comoros launches $137 million AfDB-backed maritime corridor project

The government of the Union of the Comoros launched the Maritime Corridor and Regional Trade Facilitation Project on 27 October 2025 in Moroni, with $137 million in financing from the African Development Bank Group. The project, which aims to modernise port infrastructure, facilitate trade, and strengthen regional connectivity, was officially inaugurated by President Azali Assoumani.

The Bank Group’s financing includes a $135 million grant from the African Development Fund and an additional $2 million from the Transition Support Fund. Other development partners such as the World Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the French Development Agency, the European Union, and the European Investment Bank are contributing over $110 million in co-financing. The Global Centre for Adaptation has supported the project through climate risk assessments for port infrastructure.

“The maritime corridor we are launching today is an eloquent testimony to our ability to build a resilient nation, fully integrated into regional and continental dynamics,” said President Assoumani. “It is a living symbol of our openness to the world, a bridge between people, and a vehicle for trade, cooperation and shared prosperity,” he added.

Comorian Minister of Maritime and Air Transport, Yasmine Hassane Alfeine, described the African Development Bank Group as “a loyal strategic partner whose technical and financial support consistently accompanies efforts to realise a vision of development based on sustainability, integration and infrastructure resilience.” She said the initiative marks “a new step in the modernisation of our port and maritime infrastructure, with the prospect of creating a special economic zone.”

According to Laté Lawson Zankli, Country Programme Advisor representing the Bank Group, “This flagship project of the Comoros Emerging Plan 2030 will contribute to developing value chains in agriculture and fisheries, while creating economic opportunities for young people and women.”

The project aligns with the African Development Bank’s 2024–2033 Ten-Year Strategy and its “Four Cardinal Points” policy framework. It focuses on building resilient infrastructure and boosting agricultural and fisheries value chains to generate employment and sustainable growth.

Since 1977, the African Development Bank Group has financed nearly 40 operations in the Union of the Comoros, with cumulative funding of about $530 million across transport, energy, agriculture, and governance sectors. The new maritime corridor project reinforces the Bank’s long-term support for the island nation’s economic transformation.