re posted from AFRICA AND THE WORLD
Great News! Nigeria Expanding Vitally Needed Rail and Road Infrastructure
Great News! Nigeria Expanding Vitally Needed Rail and Road Infrastructure
Nigeria Getting Back On Track With Rail Revolution
May 18, 2018-ThisDayLive
Israel Ibeleme
Just days before President Buhari met with President Trump at the White House, history was made in Washington, DC, with the signing of a landmark infrastructure agreement between the Nigerian Government and a consortium of multinational firms led by the American digital industrial giant, General Electric (GE). The implementation of that agreement, worth US$45 million in the first phase, will ensure that within the next 12 months, passenger travel by rail from Lagos to Kano will be faster and safer, while for the first time in over a decade, contracted
and scheduled freight rail services can once again be offered.
This milestone project is the outcome of President Buhari’s single-minded determination to develop, upgrade and modernise Nigeria’s transport infrastructure, as well as the relentless push by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, to fully deliver on the President’s vision.
Since Mr. Amaechi took office in November 2015, as Minister of Transportation, there has been a renaissance in Nigeria’s rail industry, in line with the President’s oft-stated vision. This planned revamp of the Narrow-Gauge Rail Network by the international consortium comprising General Electric, Transnet of South Africa, Sino Hydro of China and APM Terminals (part of the Danish Maersk Group) – after two years of meticulous planning, negotiating and contracting, President Buhari in one of the coaches when he commissioned the Abuja-Kaduna train services offers strong proof of the seriousness with which the Buhari Administration is taking its railway
modernisation ambitions.
Nigeria’s Narrow-Gauge Rail System was conceived in the 1890s and built between 1898 and 1926, with a total length of 3,500 kilometres. It consists of two primary lines – Lagos to Nguru and Port Harcourt to Maiduguri– with spur lines to Eleme, Baro, Kaura Namoda and other places.
The Buhari administration, as part of its infrastructure development vision, has now finally taken the long overdue bold steps to modernise the rail network. On August 18, 2017, the Federal Executive Council, following a competitive procurement process, approved the concession of the Narrow-Gauge Rail System to the GE-led Consortium. The Government is advised by a multidisciplinary consortium led by the Africa Finance Corporation.
The initiation of that concession agreement is what has now finally taken effect following the signing in Washington DC yesterday, ahead of President Buhari’s bilateral meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday…
The benefits of this intervention are immense: increased economic productivity, job creation, private sector investment, human capacity development and much-needed world class expertise. Worldwide, rail infrastructure has been proven to reduce costs and wastage of goods; increase economic trade between farmers/miners and industry and between traders and consumers; and grow business competitiveness and increase operational efficiency.
Nigeria Signs Rail Project with China
May 16, 2018–Nigeria has awarded a $6.68 billion contract to the China Civil Engineering Construction Corp. (CCECC) for work on a major segment of a railway linking the country’s commercial hub Lagos, in the southwest, and Kano in the north, Xinhua reported May 15.
“The signing of the segment contract agreement today [May 15] concludes all outstanding segments of he Lagos-Kano rail line,” Xinhua quoted Nigeria’s Transport Ministry as saying. The work is expected to take two or three years. CCECC, a subsidiary of China Railway Construction Corp., has been involved in other parts of the Lagos-Kano rail project, which started in 2006 and was broken into segments for implementation.
In 2016, Nigeria awarded work on a segment between the northern states of Kano and Kaduna with a contract sum of $1.685 billion. The railway line already receives funding from China Exim Bank which in April approved a $1.231 billion loan for network modernization programs. Nigeria is also negotiating with Russia, on projects within the ambitious national rail development program which requires investments totaling $46 billion.
China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation lands $6.68bn Nigeria rail project
May 16, 2018-Global Construction
By Tom Wadlow
Construction of new highway read: Lagos Ota-Abeokuta Expressway
Source: Africa and the World