Nigeria’s quest to explore new areas of revenue generation and diversification from oil may be gaining traction, as Government seeks new opportunities through massive investment in the rail sector.
Following years of neglect under prolonged and inept military rule, freight-rail capacity reduced to 15,000 metric tons a year in 2005, from three million tons four decades earlier. Government plans to spend N107bn on railway projects in 2019.
The 2019 budget gives a further boost to that development as N107bn was projected for rail. About N80.22bn out of it will be spent on counterpart funding for it while N27.12bn goes for various rehabilitation of railway tracks.
The N80.22bn for counterpart funding would be used for key rail projects such as Lagos-Kano, Calabar-Lagos, and Ajaokuta-Itakpe-Aladja (Warri).
Others are Port Harcourt- Maiduguri railway project, Kano-Katsina-Jibiya-Maradi in Niger Republic, Warri New Harbour and Bonny Deep Sea Port, Port Harcourt, and other rail projects.
