The proposed Gas and 4000km high-speed rail, also known as a bullet train, will be constructed in Nigeria by De-Sadel Nigeria Limited and China Liancai Petroleum Investment Holdings Limited and will be completed 36 months after commencement of work.
This was revealed to journalists in Abuja by Samuel Uko, the chief executive of De-Sadel Nigeria Limited, who presented a $60 billion proof of funds to Sen. George Akume, the secretary to the government of the federation.
Speaking on the timeline for the completion of the project when started, Uko said, “Well, the 1,600 kilometres that cover the country’s four major cities will take us 36 months to build. But we won’t wait until the 36th month. For instance, from Lagos to Lokoja, we will cut across about six states. But when we get to the second or third state, the people from the first two states will start enjoying the speed train.
So, it’s going to be in phases, and that is how the project is being structured.”
On the project properly and the preparations for its commencement, he said, “Well, today is a very great day in the life of this administration. The high-speed rail bullet train project that we started 10 years ago, it is this administration that has given us almost 90 per cent of approvals.
“Today, with our partners, I have just presented the official approval form for the project. The fund is coming from the Asian Development Investment Bank.
And it is to cover the project’s first phase that cuts across four major cities of Nigeria.
“The rail line is from Lagos to Abuja, to Kano, and from Abuja to Port Harcourt. So this is a very great work that the government has done. The federal government of Nigeria, through the ICRC, approved the outline business case. And the next step now was for us to submit the approval form to the government, which we have just done. So I believe that in the shortest possible time, Nigeria will start enjoying a high-speed rail.
While speaking on the amount involved, he said “Today, $60 billion approval fund has just been submitted to the government through our financial and technical partners. The first phase of the project is $55 billion. So the fund is ready, and the country is ready to move forward with this project.”
Speaking on the project’s importance, he said, “You cannot develop high-speed rail without developing the gas aspect of the economy. As we all know, we don’t have enough gas presently. So the raw material for high-speed rail is power. The raw material for power is gas. So we have to develop the gas aspect to be able to access more gas to power the high-speed rail project.
Meanwhile, Akume, while explaining the process of granting approvals for the project, said, “This is a country that is business-friendly friendly especially under the administration of President Bola Tinubu. Though we need foreign investments to a reasonable extent, such partnerships would have to be reliable, credible, and beneficial to all partners. About the proof of funds, this will be critically scrutinised in line with international practice so that we can be sure of the viability of the bullet train project and the timelines. The high-speed trains project is a welcome development. We will look at the proof of funds submitted critically and get back to them. We are going to do business with them.”
