China To Construct $19.4 Billion Railway In Nigeria

A Chinese company will take up construction work of two railway projects in Nigeria, saidNigerian Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi Wednesday in an interview with CNBC Africa.

China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Ltd. (CCECC), one of the subsidiaries of China Railway Construction Corporation, a state-owned construction enterprise, will undertake the construction work of a $ 19.4 billion railway project and the work will last two to three years, said Amaechi in the interview.

The minister also said that The Export-Import Bank of China will provide loans for the construction. According to a report by Thepaper.cn, the railway connecting Lagos and Calabar will cost $11.1 billion and that connecting Lagos and Kano will cost $8.3 billion.

A source close to the construction disclosed that Chinese loans will cover the majority cost of the construction since Nigeria does not have enough capital for such a large-scale project. The source said that CCECC played an important role to raise money.

The two railways, Lagos-Calabar and Lagos-Kano, are two of the symbolic projects ofChina’s railway going global. The contract amounts of the two projects set a record when they were signed, according to the report

The report said that in 2006, before Beijing summit of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), China and Nigeria signed a contract costing $8.3 billion to build a 1,315-kilometer long railway between Lagos and Kano. It is reported that this project is the biggest international project taken on by Chinese enterprises at this time.

CCECC got the project contract for the Lagos-Calabar railway construction at a contracted amount of $11.97 billion in 2014.

The minister said that China’s Exim Bank will provide loans for the project but he did not mention specific amounts.

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