President Muhammadu Buhari has signed an agreement with an international consortium led by world’s digital industrial company, General Electric (GE), for the interim phase of the concession of Nigeria’s narrow-gauge rail network.
TheNewsGuru reports the international consortium including GE is made up of SinoHydro, Transnet and APM Terminals.
The Presidency, which made this known on Monday morning, said in a statement that the program is expected to deliver an increase in the number of available locomotives, thus increasing the frequency of passenger and freight rail services.
“In addition, freight haulage capacity by the end of the first 12 months of the interim phase is expected to increase roughly ten-fold, from its current less than 50,000 metric tonnes per annum to about 500,000 metric tonnes per annum.
“Initiated by General Electric, the Consortium is comprised of SinoHydro, a leading infrastructure construction services corp., Transnet, a leader in transportation & logistics infrastructure mgt and APM Terminals, a global port, terminal and intermodal inland services provider,” the statement read.
According to the statement, “in the interim phase of the rail concession, remedial works will be carried out on part of the narrow-gauge rail line system to make it technically and economically operable”.
“Additionally, a joint operation will be established between the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) and the GE-led Consortium, with an initial supply of 10 locomotives and 200 wagons to augment the existing rolling stock in Nigeria,” it added.