United States-based Fitch Solutions’ latest report, has it that the Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) handled most of Nigeria’s railway projects.
Titled ‘Nigeria Rail: Near-Term Focus On Northern Region With Long-Term Upside For Southern Projects’, Fitch reports that the Chinese firm, backed by the Asian government, was contracted for the majority of railway projects in the country worth over $25.51 billion.
“China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation has dominated the railway construction sector in Nigeria, supported by Chinese financing,” the report read partly.
A breakdown of the railway projects
The breakdown of Nigeria’s railway projects handled by CCECC shows that the approved Lagos-Calabar coastal railway project covering 1402km was awarded to the Chinese company for $11.10 billion.
Also, the Abuja-Itakpe-Warri rail line project with a contract value of $3.90 billion, sponsored by China Railway Construction Corporation and EXIM Bank of China, was awarded to CCECC, Julius Berger, and Sinohydro Corporation, another Chinese company, alongside General Electric. The project is still at the planning stage.
Also at the planning stage is a 334km Ogun intercity railway line with a contract value estimated at $3.51 billion. The project is scheduled to be handled by CCECC.
The Port Harcourt-Maiduguri rail line rehabilitation project covering 1443km is under construction at a contract value of $3.2 billion. The project is being handled by CCECC.
Also, the 156km Lagos-Ibadan rail project was completed in 2021 by CCECC at a contract sum of $1.7 billion.
Other rail projects awarded to CCECC include the Ibadan–Ilorin with a length of 200km; Ilorin – Minna, with a length of 270km; and Minna – Abuja with a length of 300km.
The 187km Abuja – Kaduna line, which was completed in 2016 after five years, was awarded to CCECC for $876 million. The 204km Kaduna – Kano project is handled by CCECC for $1.2 billion.
Recently boosting of the company’s economic values to Nigeria, CCECC’s General Manager, Corporate Culture, Vincent Liu said it has delivered no less than 712km of the railway to the country in the last five years.
His words: “In the last five years, CCECC Nigeria has completed and handed over four major railway projects to add to the transport infrastructure of the country.
“They include the Abuja Metro of about 37km, the 186km Abuja-Kaduna railway, the Ajaokuta-Itakpe-Warri 326km railway project, and lastly the Lagos-Ibadan project of 156km, with an extension of another 7km.
“These projects have engendered development of Nigeria in no little measures. Their benefits are economic, social, developmental, diplomatic and extend to deepening expertise through the grooming of artisans and professionals for the country as the locals work on these projects.”
