Eight West African nations agreed to $19 billion worth of infrastructure deals at the recent West Africa Investment Forum.

Investments will be injected into projects such as roads, railways, airports, energy, food security and water.

The largest investment comes from the UAE company Trojan General Contracting which will spend $16 billion on road and rail project across the region.

Essar Projects, the UAE subsidiary of Essar Group, will invest up to $1.98 billion in road, bridge, airport and thermal power plant projects in Benin, Guinea Bissau and Niger. Oman-based Hasan Juma Backer Trading & approximately $700 million in a dry-port development project in Cote d’Ivoire.

A total of 16 agreements were signed at the investment forum.