AFD Applauds Lagos, LAMATA on New Transport Interchanges, Ease Commuting

Raheem Akingbolu

The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) has commended the Lagos State government and the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) for their efforts to ease commuting in the state, with the construction of two transport interchanges in Marina and Mile 2.

The Director of the Africa Department of the AFD, Sandra Kassab, stated this after leading a team from the agency to tour the two projects, along with the Commissioner of Transportation, Mr. Oluwaseun Osiyemi, and the Managing Director of LAMATA, Mrs. Abimbola Akinajo, to check the progress of the work done.

Commenting after the tour, the head of the AFD delegation, Kassab, who was excited about what she saw and the progress of work done, praised LAMATA and the state government for its commitment in wanting to easing commuting across the metropolis.

She said: “We have the joy and the pride to work together with LAMATA for more than 10 years already, supporting the development of an affordable, secure, and reliable transportation system that is integrated.

“So this field visit is a vibrant opportunity to see concretely how service has been improved through infrastructure investment and to have the opportunity also to really understand the challenge of interconnectivity between the rail, the BRT, and other transportation systems and bring better service to Nigerian people.

“I’ve been really impressed, and I reiterate my gratitude to Nigeria, to the State of Lagos, to LAMATA for their trust. We have been lucky enough to work on the planning of the project, to be part of it, and to mobilize resources for the financing of the investment.”

On her part, the Managing Director of LAMATA, disclosed that the two transport interchanges being built at Marina and Mile 2 to promote intermodal transportation will be ready between the end of the first quarter and the middle of the second quarter of 2026.

Speaking after a delegation from Agence Française de Développement (AFD) led by the Director, Africa Department of the agency, Sandra Kassab, , toured the Marina and Mile 2 transport interchange to check the progress of the work done, she said there LAMATA can see great progress with the work done, reason it is very comfortable that at the very latest, at the beginning of the second quarter of 2026, the two interchanges would be delivered.

According to her, the state has a non-motorized policy, which is driving the non-motorized aspect of the Marina Interchange project.

“And it’s probably unique when you look at the intermodal transport system in Lagos. We must note that Lagos has a non-motorized transport policy as part of its transportation policy. Lagos is probably the first state that has incorporated that in its transport policy.

“In fact, Lagos is probably the first state that has its own transport policy, and that’s under the purview of our Ministry of Transportation. But what is important here is that Lagos is deliberate about ensuring that we have an adequate non-motorized transportation system. The backbone of that is connectivity, the ability to connect non-motorised transport (NMT) infrastructure to other transport modes.”

She disclosed that when the Marina Interchange is completed, the plan is to have commuters walk from the outer Marina and get to the J. Randle Museum and some parts of the offices around the inner Marina.

With this, the MD of LAMATA said the state would be reducing carbon emissions because passengers will not use cars to connect these locations.

On his part, the Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Oluwaseun Osiyemi stated that the state government is committed to completing the project like many others because transportation is the first ‘T’ in the THEMES+agenda of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.