(Ecofin Agency) – The China Development Bank replaced China Eximbank in 2023 as the main financier of the project, which is part of China’s “New Silk Roads” initiative.
The China Development Bank announced in a press release published on Tuesday, January 7, 2025, that it had granted a loan of $255 million to the Nigerian federal government to finance a railway linking the city of Kano to that of Kaduna (North) .
This statement was issued the day before the arrival of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Nigeria as part of an African tour.
The Kano-Kaduna standard gauge railway (SGR) line, which is 203 km long, aims to open up the northern part of Nigeria by connecting these two main commercial cities to the federal capital Abuja.
A line linking Abuja to Kaduna has already been operational since 2016.
“Once completed, the new line will provide a direct rail link between Kano and Abuja, the country’s capital, providing residents with a safe, efficient and convenient mode of transport. This railway will also promote the development of related industries along the route,” the China Development Bank said in its statement, indicating that the construction and operation of the railway will create numerous employment opportunities.
The contract to build the Kano-Kaduna line was awarded to the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) in 2016, but construction only started in July 2021. It was suspended for about two years, due to notably the withdrawal of the Chinese Export-Import Bank (China Eximbank) from financing the project which is part of the Chinese New Silk Roads initiative.
“At present, the project is progressing satisfactorily,” underlined the China Development Bank, while specifying that it will work closely with the Nigerian side to ensure the continuous disbursement of loans and effectively manage the works of the next phases of the project, the total cost of which is estimated at 973 million dollars .
The main policy bank of the Middle Kingdom, the China Development Bank has already financed the Lekki deep-water port project in Nigeria.
-Walid Kefi
Edited by MF Vahid Codjia
Also read:
03/13/2024 – Nigeria has obtained $1.3 billion in funding for its railway project opening to Niger
07/15/2021 – Nigeria begins construction work on the SGR section between Kaduna and Kano in the north
05/16/2018 – Nigeria awards $6.68 billion railway contract to China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation
03/28/2017 – Nigeria: the government wants to develop railway projects via a $6.1 billion loan from the China Exim Bank
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