Amaechi: China To Approve Another $5.3bn Loan For Nigeria’s Railway Construction

The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, says China has been very helpful to Nigeria.

He stated this on Friday during a special broadcast which aired on Channels Television to mark the nation’s Democracy Day.

The Minister noted that the People Republic of China and the Chinese people have been very helpful to the Federal Government following the disbursement of cash to fun infrastructure, especially railway.

For instance, Amaechi said the Asian country released $1.6billion for the Lagos-Ibadan railway and is expected to approve $5.3billion by October.

“The Chinese government and the Chinese people have been very helpful to Nigeria. They have released $1.6billion for the Lagos-Ibadan.

“They have agreed to approve (and) we hope that by October, they should be able to approve the $5.3billion for the Federal Government of Nigeria so that we can commence and complete the construction of the Ibadan-Kano railway,” he said.

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The Lagos–Kano Standard Gauge Railway is an under-construction standard gauge railway across Nigeria, from the Atlantic Ocean port of Lagos to Kano, near the Niger border.

The railway will run parallel to the British-built Cape gauge line, which has a lower design capacity and is in a deteriorated condition.

The railway is being built in segments. Only the segment between Abuja and Kaduna has been completed so far, and services began officially in July 2016.

The 187 km segment is an important junction point on the existing Cape gauge railway network, where a branch line departs the Lagos–Nguru line for Kafanchan, on the Port Harcourt–Maiduguri Railway.