Mota-Engil Targets 2025 for Completion of Kano-Maradi Rail
Gilbert Ekugbe
Contractors of the Kano-Maradi railway project, Mota-Engil Nigeria Limited has stated the 400 kilometres railway line would be completed by 2025.
Speaking to journalists while taking delivery of the over $200 million heavyduty equipment to be deployed for the rail project, the company’s Logistics Manager, Mr. Nuno Colaço, said construction of the rail project has commenced even as over 300 Nigerians have been employed with a projection to hit 100,000 at the peak of the project.
He reaffirmed the company’s commitment to increased investment in Nigeria, pointing out that Nigeria is one of the countries on the continent with lots of investment potentials.
“We partnered Shoreline in 2018 to start investing in the country. We have been awarded the Kano-Maradi railway project, which is an investment of $2 billion and 400 kilometres coming from Dutse all the way to Maradi in Niger Republic. We had to buy a lot of equipment and we believe in the state-of-the-art equipment and brand new equipment,” he said.
“We have lots of projects in the pipeline and we are very excited about the future here in Nigeria. Shoreline has 51 per cent while we have 49 per cent. Our core business is in construction, but not only railway, but civil construction, we build dams, roads. We are in all the segment of construction. We have already started the Kano-Maradi railway line.
According to him, the acquisition of the equipment is a strategic investment for the present and for the future. He further stated that the project is not only a landmark for the development of the railway infrastructure in Nigeria but also for the whole of West Africa.
Also speaking, the Customs Controller of Tin Can Island Command, Mr. Adekunle Oloyede, said there has been a decrease of cargo throughout the ports lately and expressed his delight at the sheer size of the Mota-Engil import, saying that it is evident that the Nigerian economy is on the rebound.
MOTA-ENGIL had also, last month, taken delivery of some equipment which have been dispatched to their various project sites.
Some of the latest arrivals include wheel loaders, backhoe Loaders, crawler excavators crawler excavators medium lift, crawler excavators heavy lift, truck mounted concrete pumps, concrete mixer trucks and telehandlers.
