“The plan we have now will go to every nook and corner,” Amaechi said in an interview in Abuja, Bloomberg reported.
The Federal Executive Council also on Wednesday approved the contract for the repair of the Itapke-Ajaokuta-Warri rail link.
Nigeria, which is Africa’s biggest oil producer, is going through its worst economic slump in 25 years following a plunge in the price and output of crude, which accounts for more than 90 per cent of foreign income and two-thirds of government revenue.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, presented in March, seeks to boost agriculture and manufacturing by developing the country’s transport network and power infrastructure.
The plan’s key projects include building a second railway line connecting the nation’s two biggest cities, Lagos and Kano. The 1,100-kilometer (680-mile) line will carry freight and passengers. The government also wants to construct a rail line that will connect Lagos to the eastern city of Calabar.
The two new railways are expected to cost $20bn, with most of the funding coming from the Export-Import Bank of China, which has so far released $5.9bn.
Amaechi Reveals How Much Abuja-Kaduna Rail Line Generates Daily
The China’s Civil Engineering and Construction Company is handling the projects and both railways should be ready by the end of 2019, according to the minister.
General Electric Company is leading a group that is rehabilitating Nigeria’s 3,505 kilometres of century-old, narrow-gauge railway linking the coastal cities of Port Harcourt and Lagos with the North.
The group, including SinoHydro of China, South Africa’s Transnet SOC Limited and the Netherlands’ APM Terminals BV would fund, revamp and operate the railways for a period to be decided with the government, the minister said.
They won the concession in May, the report said.
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