Nigeria plans to spend $2bn on a 700km coastal highway between the commercial capital of Lagos and the port of Calabar near its border with Cameroon.

The aim is to cut the 10 hours it usually takes to drive between the cities on the existing 760km-long road, local media report.

The idea was first mooted more than 10 years ago.

No definite route has been chosen yet but it’s expected to use stretches of the existing road and veer inland to connect the city of Onitsha in Anambra State.

Here, it will be able to use the 1.6km-long Second Niger Bridge, built by local contractor Julius Beger and completed last year.

Another beneficiary is likely to be the oil centre of Port Harcourt.

Reports indicate the preferred construction would be 11-inch-thick reinforced concrete to boost local cement and steel production. The first stage will be a 47km stretch near Lagos. This sub-project has been awarded to a local company, Hitech Construction Africa.

The project is expected to take eight years to complete.