FG Signs $1.959bn Agreement For Rail-Line Terminating In Niger Republic

An agreement has been signed by the Federal Government for the construction of a $1,959 billion rail project to be completed in the Niger Republic.

This was disclosed via Twitter by the Ministry of Transportation on Monday.

For the Kano to Maradi rail line project, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with the Mota- Engil Group, a multinational engineering and construction firm.

While Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister of Transport, signed the agreement on behalf of Nigeria, Antonio Gvoea, the Managing Director of the Mota-Engil Group, signed the agreement on behalf of the company in Abuja.

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According to the spokesman for the Ministry of Transport, Eric Ejiekwe, the Minister stated that, in addition to the growth of freight and passenger transport, the 283,750-kilometer rail line will be integrated with road transport and would make a significant contribution to the local economy as well as an important development in the social sector.

The length of the project is 36 months and the form of contract is engineering, acquisition and construction.

Due to the upsurge of COVID-19 in the region, Amaechi said that the inauguration of the Lagos-Ibadan rail line had been put on hold.

According to him, when attempting to complete the project, over 60 workers on the project site were contaminated.