On November 20, China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) signed a formal commercial contract to construct the Nigerian coastal railway project in the Nigerian capital city Abuja. The contract is for a total amount of US$11.9 billion.
It is understood that the coastal railway starts from the Nigeria "economic capital" of Lagos in the west, crosses 10 states including Lagos, Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River. It ends at Calabar in the east. The railway, passing the oil producing Delta region, has a total distance of 1402 km, including 22 stations, with a designed speed of 120 km per hour.
On May 5, 2014, the day before Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s official visit to Nigeria, the two sides signed a framework contract for the project with an amount of US$13.1 billion. Later Nigeria adjusted the design and modified the contract amount to US$11.9 billion.
In the past decade, Nigeria has maintained an annual average economic growth of 6.8 percent, becoming Africa’s largest economy. Analysts have noted that the Nigerian coastal railway project marks the Chinese railway construction’s overseas expansion on a larger scale and at a higher level.
Source: China News Service, November 20, 2014
http://finance.chinanews.com/cj/2014/11-20/6796906.shtml