New Telegraph

China frustrates Nigeria’s $8.3bn Lagos-Kano rail project

The remain phases (send and third) of the $8.3 billion Lagos to Kano standard guage rail project may have suffered a setback.

 

This is as it has become obvious that China may no longer be interested in funding the project and the Federal Government said it won’t wait any longer for the Export-Import Bank of China to finance a major part of a crucial railway project.

 

The government has received from the state-owned lender only about 15 per cent of the funding required for the line originally estimated to cost $8.3 billion that will link the commercial hub of Lagos to the northern city of Kano.

 

President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has been expecting a response from the Chinese authorities regarding the rest of the loans but hasn’t received a reply, according to Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi.

 

“We were waiting, They kept delaying us.” said frustrated Amaechi. China’s hesitancy is a fresh setback for Buhari’s plan to link all major regions of the country with railway lines by the time he leaves office next year.

 

Nigeria needs at least $3 trillion over 30 years to build roads and power plants to close a huge infrastructure gap, according to Moody’s Investors Service. The government has since approached Standard Chartered Plc and unidentified Chinese commercial banks to help fund the project,

 

Amaechi said. Standard Chartered has approved some level of funding, he said. The London-based lender did not respond to Bloomberg calls for comment. The Chinese Embassy in Abuja didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Read Previous

Why Sanwo-Olu deserves a second term

Read Next

SON, NFIU collaborate to tackle substandard products

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *