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LAGOS, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday performed the ground-breaking ceremony of a standard gauge railway line connecting Kano in northwest Nigeria to Maradi, a city in Niger, virtually.
The 1.959-billion-dollar project, which is as long as 284 km, was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in September 2020 and being executed by Mota-Engil Group, a Portugal-based engineering and construction company.
The project, with 15 stations along the corridor, is expected to be completed in the next three years and would boost socio-economic activities in northwest Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa states of Nigeria as well as Maradi in the Niger Republic.
Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi said on social media on Jan. 11 that the contractor agreed to build a university as part of its corporate social responsibility while working on the project.
According to Amaechi, the rail line is favorable to Nigeria as it will help the country to compete favorably with other coastal countries in West Africa to service its landlocked neighbors in the movement of cargoes and will make the Lagos seaports more viable.
The minister also disclosed that the project would be linked with the Lagos - Kano railway lines to enhance and stimulate agricultural and manufacturing activities in the country. Enditem