Nigeria says China has held off its pledged financing for 2 railway projects
- Mu’azu Sambo, nation’s transport minister, says delay of more than a year has stymied construction of the Abuja-Kano and Port-Harcourt-Maiduguri railways
- Analysts say Beijing’s reticence is part of a larger cutback on funding of costly and risky projects in Africa
China has yet to release financing for two major railway projects in Nigeria, a sign of a broader cutback on its commitment to costly and risky projects in Africa.
Mu’azu Sambo, the Nigerian transport minister, said that though China had agreed to provide 85 per cent financing for the construction of the Abuja-Kano and Port-Harcourt-Maiduguri railway projects, Chinese lenders had not yet disbursed the funds, more than a year since the projects were launched.
Sambo said that Nigeria had paid 15 per cent of the project cost in accordance with the contract with the Chinese contractor. However, he said that the Chinese funding had not yet been provided, delaying the projects.
The two railways are part of multibillion-dollar railway projects across Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with about 200 million people. The construction is mostly done by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation.
“The Abuja-Kano and Port-Harcourt Maiduguri rail projects are ongoing but there is a challenge of the 85 per cent foreign loan yet to be secured. We have been driving these two projects solely through appropriation, which is part of the 15 per cent which Nigeria is supposed to contribute,” Sambo said this weekend.
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“Until we have the 85 per cent component, the project will have to be continually funded through the appropriation.”