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Nigeria asks Russia, India for $46bn to finish railways

The government of Nigeria is seeking $46bn from the Russian Exim Bank and investors in India to get three strategic railways completed.

Transport minister Rotimi Amaechi revealed this week that Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the sourcing of loans to finish three standard gauge lines: Lagos-Kano, Lagos-Calabar and Port Harcourt-Maiduguri, reports newspaper This Day.

For a number of years Nigeria has been in talks with China to build the $11bn Lagos-Calabar railway.

Amaechi said he had talked with investors from Russia and India to provide the funding.

"I was in India to look for money and there are people talking to me," he said. "I also had a meeting with Russian Exim Bank. Any of them that gives us money will be welcomed, because the Chinese are already funding the Lagos-Kano line. The president has given the clearance for talks with investors."

Image: Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari (Wikimedia Commons)

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