The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Hassan Bello, has lauded the Kano-Maradi rail project describing it as an important facility to help Nigeria maximise the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
The ground-breaking ceremony of the about $2 billion (about N768bn) facility is to be done by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Katsina State.
The railway project is expected to connect three Nigerian northern states namely Kano, Katsina and Jigawa, and then terminate at Maradi, Niger Republic. Mota-Engil Group is the contracting firm.
The ES in an exclusive chat with our correspondent in Abuja also said the facility will link to Kano Dry Port to make it more profitable.
The Kano-Maradi rail line is an “important rail route because of international trade. It is a good facility and it comes in good time.
“If we have the rail line, then Maradi will be an outlet. You will see the impact on the small and medium scale industries around the Kano economy. There will be a domino effect. Kano has more than 1000 industries.”
Bello also stated that the “Kano-Maradi axis is also an outlet for African Continental Free Trade Area. We need to have linkages in West Africa and beyond. The success of this agreement for Nigeria rests on the cross border or trans-border facility or infrastructure like the Kano-Maradi rail line.”
“We are happy with the Kano State government spending about N2bn in infrastructure and we will soon commission the facility.”
He also said the process to link the Kano-Maradi line with the Kano Dry Port has commenced. “Yes. It will be connected.
A meeting has taken place with the Kano concessionaire, Nigerian Railway Corporation so that we can link the facility with the Kano-Maradi line.”
