(Ecofin Agency) – The attribution to CCECC of the operation of the Lagos-Ibadan line is part of the NRC’s policies to intensify rail freight which is still weak despite Nigeria’s strong capacity to generate traffic. At 1is half of 2024, only 304,409 tonnes transited by rail.
The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation has been granted a 3-year license by the Nigerian Railway Corporation to operate freight services on the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge railway line. The contract, which runs until October 2027, covers a 157 km network inaugurated in 2021 and developed by this same Chinese multinational.
The initiative is part of the NRC reforms to improve the performance of rail transport, which has become the priority segment of government policies to improve mobility and Nigeria’s overall logistics chain, hitherto focused on the road network . The operation of this section by the Chinese group, which also manages a local wagon assembly unit, should make it possible to intensify rail traffic.
In accordance with the State’s overall strategy for the railway sector, major infrastructure projects are underway or planned to achieve a better network of the national territory, including interconnection with seaports and an extension to neighboring countries including Niger. A landlocked market that Nigeria covets, wishing to become the main provider of supply logistics services.
Once completed, these projects should facilitate the migration of passengers and freight from road to rail, the annual volumes of which are still low. According to NRC figures, only 1.4 million people traveled by train in Nigeria during the 1is half-year 2024 while freight volumes over the period were 304,409 tonnes.
A situation which can be explained, among other things, by the high rates of insecurity observed in the railway sector in Nigeria in recent years, with multiple terrorist attacks resulting in deaths, injuries and kidnappings. Aware of the problem, the authorities have taken measures to improve passenger safety on rail lines, and are now hoping for a return to flows.
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