Nigeria turns to Europe for $1.9bn Kano-Maradi rail funding

Construction work on $1.9bn Kano-Maradi (Niger Republic) rail line will start on Tuesday (tomorrow) after the inauguration of the project by President Muhammadu Buhari, Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has said.

He also said the bulk of the funds for the project would be sourced from Europe.

Amaechi spoke on a Channels Television programme, Sunday Politics, February 7, 2021.

The project, he said, was one of Nigeria’s strategic attempts to position the country to take advantage of Niger’s landlocked status as it connects Kano to Apapa port in Lagos.

The minister said, “The project is going to cost us $1.9bn and we will source it from mostly Europe.”

The just constructed 156-kilometre Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge railway was funded by a $1.3 billion loan from the Export-Import Bank of China and about $182 million from the Nigerian government. Similarly, China is expected to provide 85 per cent of the $5.3bn for the construction of new Ibadan-Kano railway.

Amaechi, however, noted that the country had not secured the money, stressing that “we are about concluding.”

He had in tweet on Friday said President Buhari would on Tuesday, February 9, 2021, perform the ground-breaking ceremony of the Kano-Maradi, Kano-Dutse railway project.

This is coming after the approval of about $1.9bn by the Federal Executive Council in September 2020, for the rail line and the subsequent signing of the contract documents for the commencement of the project last month.

The minister also on the Channels TV programme spoke on how long it would take the country to repay the loan.

He said, “That is the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance. When we would pay; what are the terms of agreement for the loan and all that would be the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance.

“So, that question can be directed to the Minister for Finance. For us in Transportation, our job is to work with the Ministry of Finance to procure the loan and commence construction and we think we would commence construction on Tuesday.”

He stated that the project would open up the country to more investment, arguing that it was in Nigeria’s best interest for the Kano-Maradi railway to be constructed.

Amaechi said, “The interest is national; the interest is about Nigeria. The Maradi terminal is just 20 kilometres away from Nigeria; just 20 kilometres. So, there is no huge investment like Nigerians are thinking.”

According to the minister, the Lagos-Kano commercial corridor transports 30,000,000 tonnes of cargo annually, with only 200,000 of that currently carried by rail and the rest by road.

The railway project is expected to connect three Nigerian northern states, namely: Kano, Katsina and Jigawa and then terminate at Maradi, Niger Republic.

“We are pleased to announce the groundbreaking of the Kano-Maradi, Kano-Dutse Railway Project, slated for Tuesday, our President, Muhammadu Buhari would do the honours. Work begins,” he stated.

The Federal Government had about three weeks ago, during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with Mota-Engil Group, the contractors for the project, disclosed that the Kano-Maradi railway project would be completed within 36 months.

The rail line is expected to help Nigeria compete favourably with other coastal countries of West Africa in servicing the landlocked countries in the area of movement of cargoes and make Lagos ports viable.