FG Awards Contract For $2bn Kano-Maradi, Kano-Dutse Railway Project

The Federal Government has announced the signing of the contract documents for the commencement of the Kano-Maradi, Kano-Dutse railway project.

This follows the approval of the $1.96 billion by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in September for the rail line which will connect 3 states namely Kano, Katsina and Jigawa and then terminate in Maradi, Niger Republic.

• See Also: FEC Approves $1.96bn For Kano-Niger Republic Railway

The contract was awarded to Portuguese construction firm Mota-Engil. The contract includes the design, construction and financing contract for the $US 1.96bn 284km cross-border Kano – Katsina – Jibia – Maradi line.

The single-track standard-gauge line will have 12 stations and will provide a coastal connection between landlocked Niger and the southern Nigerian ports of Lagos and Lekki. The line will also include a 93km branch from Kano to Dutse, the capital of Jigawa state. The line will run through the Nigerian states of Kano, Jigawa, and Katsina, and the Maradi region in Niger. Construction is due to take two years and eight months.

Under a condition of the contract, signed by Nigeria’s minister of transport, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, and Mota-Engil managing director, Mr Antonio Gvoea, Mota-Engil will also construct a new university in Nigeria.

This disclosure was made by the Minister for Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, through a tweet post on his official Twitter handle on Monday, January 11, 2021.

Amaechi in his statement said,

• ‘’Today, we 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.’’

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