Ministry of Transport of Nigeria awarded Mota-Engil, a Portuguese company, a contract with for the design, construction and financing of the Kano – Maradi rail line linking Nigeria and Niger.
The USD 1.82 billion contract will include the project, the procurement, construction and financing of the single-track, standard-gauge line with 12 stations from Kano in northern Nigeria to Maradi in the south of landlocked Niger.
The standard gauge Kano – Maradi rail line will start in Nigeria, from Kano, crossing country’s regions of Danbatta, Kazaure, Daura, Mashi, Katsina, Jibiya and Maradi, in the Niger Republic. The line will have a branch from Kano to Dutse, in northern Nigeria.
The project involves the construction of a line totalling 387 km from Kano to Maradi and the branch to Dutse. The new line will connect three federal states in Northern Nigeria, namely Kano, Jigawa and Katsina, and the Republic of Niger through Maradi, while the 93 km branch line will connect the capital of Jigawa’s State (Dutse) to Kano.
According to some estimations, the construction works would be carried out within three or four years.
“We have signed the contract documents for the commencement of the Kano-Maradi, Kano-Dutse railway project. The contractor, Mota-Engil Group, a multinational engineering and construction firm has also agreed to build a University as part of their CSR while working on the project, said Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the Transport Minister of Nigeria.
During the coming months, Mota-Engil together with the Government of Nigeria and the financial institutions, will work on the completion of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), on the necessary expropriations, on the initial mobilisation and preparation of the project, towards its completion and towards the final approval of the financing by the Government of Nigeria.
That financing is being structured and negotiated by KFW-IPEX BANK, Africa Finance Corporation and Credit Suisse, as financial advisors of Mota-Engil and Mandated Lead Arrangers for the transaction, will have the support of several international Export Credit Agencies (ECA) and will be taken by the Republicof Nigeria.
Once the financial process will be completed, the construction works for the line will begin within 32 months.
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