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UAE-Backed $1.2bn Financing for Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway

Country
United Arab Emirates; Nigeria
Sector
Infrastructure
Intelligence Type
Global Strategic Intelligence
Status / Stage
Under Construction
Estimated Value
USD 1200000000
Confidence
Partially Confirmed

Construction is well underway across multiple highway sections. Section 1 was partially opened to traffic in December 2025. The financing has moved past commitment into active disbursement supporting construction.

Details

Origin Country / RegionUnited Arab Emirates
Impact TypeNew Project

Why It Matters — Africa Side

Adds a second major international financing source to Nigeria's largest road infrastructure project, at a moment when the primary syndicated loan's disbursement has reportedly lagged physical construction progress.

Why It Matters — Outside-Investor Side

Reflects a broader pattern of Gulf state capital moving into African infrastructure alongside, and sometimes competing with, traditional Western and Chinese lenders — part of the same wider trend visible in Lobito Corridor's Emirati investor interest.

Africa Linkage

UAE-backed financing secured by the Nigerian Federal Government (late 2025/early 2026) to support a 56km section of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, alongside the existing $747m Deutsche Bank-led syndicated loan.

Commercial Trigger

Reported funding gap between physical progress (70%+) and disbursed capital on Section 1 of the highway

Commercial Opportunity Intelligence

Commercial ReadinessVery Early

Analyst Notes

CONNECTED RECORD: this links to the existing Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project record (dossier: lagos-calabar-coastal-highway) from the earlier project batch — same field-mapping caveat as above applies.

Source & Verification Trail

Last VerifiedFebruary 2026
Source(s)BusinessDay NG; Construction Review Online
Source DateFebruary 2026

This project has been fully tracked to completion. Read the complete Project Dossier →