The government of Nigeria yesterday signed a contract with state-owned China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC) to build a major new railway linking the capital Abuja to the port city of Warri, a distance by air of approximately 440km.
The project is valued at $3.9bn, Nigerian media reported , adding that it would be a public-private partnership, with Nigeria providing an equity stake of 15%, CRCC an equity stake of 10%, and the remaining 75% borrowed from Cina’s Export-Import (Exim) Bank.
The project includes the construction of a new port at Warri, reports said.
CRCC will operate the railway and the port to recover its investment.
Heading south from Abuja, the line will pass through the city of Baro. A branch line will be built to Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.
Announcing the contract, Nigeria’s transport minister Rotimi Amaechi said CRCC was in charge of all rail projects in Nigeria.
CRCC Limited is a subsidiary of China Railway Construction Corporation, which has many subsidiaries.
“The entire railway for now in Nigeria is constructed 100 per cent by the CRCC,” reports quote him as saying. “I think that the good working relationship we have had with the CRCC is the reason we have not been able to engage other companies.”
