The Federal Government on Tuesday met with a consortium of financial institutions that had expressed interest in providing funds towards the completion of the 284 +103km Kano-Maradi rail project.
Receiving representatives of the Take-Out facilities Lenders for the Kano-Katsina-Jibiya-Maradi (Niger Republic) Single – Track Standard Gauge Railway project in the Ministry of Transportation in Abuja, Minister of Transportation, Sen. Said Alkali, said that the Kano -Maradi rail project represented the aspirations of the Federal Government to facilitate trade, engender alternative mode of transportation and foster bilateral relations between the two countries.
The Director, Press and Public Relations in the Ministry, Olujimi Oyetomi, in a statement about the meeting quoted the Minister as restating government’s commitment to the completion of the rail project to enhance bilateral trade between Nigeria and the Niger Republic.
Alkali assured the team that all the necessary documents and answers that could convince prospective financiers to release their funds for the project would be provided by the ministry.
Similarly, he promised the prospective investors of good return on their investments and the readiness of the government to create enabling environment for the completion of the project
The minister explained that the meeting, which is convened at the instance of the consortium of banks, was to enable these institutions build and get answers to their puzzles and inquiries, as part of the due diligence process.
Speaking at the interactive section, the Senior Vice President, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), Mohammed Abdul-Razaq, disclosed that the consortium of banks consisting of the Africa Development Bank (AfDB), Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Development Bank of Southern Africa, African Finance Bank, Rand Merchant Bank and the China Construction Bank had indicated interest in providing the funds that will facilitate completion of the project within the proposed timeline.
According to him, the team, as part of the due diligence process, has embarked on a series of interactive engagements with the Ministers of Finance, Environment, Mines and Steel Development and only just came back to Abuja after visitation to the site locations of the project to corroborate received reports.
He that for the investors to be able to commit their funds, they need to do due diligence and at the end of the mission, return to their respective offices, write credit reports and seek approvals.
Responding to some of the questions raised by the financiers, the Director, Rail Transport Services, Zira Finbarr, clarified that the Ministry of Transportation on behalf of the Federal Government entered into a bilateral agreement for the construction of a trans-national rail line into Niger Republic and extend to Algeria.
He explained that the buy-in of the country was solicited and the risk of Niger Republic rescinding on this agreement is unlikely.
Finbarr said that the Ministry had through the Federal Ministry of Environment carried out an environmental social impact assessment and the ministry has been given the report and approval before work commenced.
According to him, in Kano – Maradi, the people are taking into consideration because government will have to do access roads from the rail line into the communities so that they are not cut off from road networks.
Finbarr assured that other issues of land compensation along the strip of rail corridor and the overpass had been addressed to avert human and other interference as captured in the project’s design and that some had already been completed.
The Director, Legal Services, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Pius Oteh, spoke on some issues to assuage puzzles relating to the possible exit of Niger Republic from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), adding that the impasse between Niger and the ECOWAS resulting to Nigeria closing its borders was being amicably resolved.
Citing an instance from the Russia-Ukraine war, Oteh pointed out that the Russia-Ukraine war had not affected the supply of gas from Russia through Ukraine to other parts of Europe, thereby assuring the institutions that amidst an uprising between both countries, the rail linkage would not be severed as it serves the interest of both countries.
He explained: “If Niger pulls out of ECOWAS, we have a MoU stemming from bilateral agreement with Niger. So at the bilateral levels, Nigeria has a very effective relationship with Niger to the point that we have Nigeria/Niger Joint Commission. Both countries recognize the importance of that project so that pulling out would not affect anything.”
On the readiness of the Nigerian government to provide security along the rail corridors, the Managing Director of Nigeria Railway Corporation, Engr. Fidet Okhiria, said that government would install digital security system on the Kano – Maradi Rail corridor to enable security personnel identify and respond when there is any threat to or attack on the rail line.
