Nigeria’s $60 billion bullet train project moved a step closer to approval. The 4,000km high-speed rail network has been a decade in the making: Billed as a key project to connect Nigeria’s western and eastern corridors from Lagos to Port Harcourt, the construction will be led by De-Sadel Nigeria, an Abuja-based logistics firm, with China Liancai Petroleum Investment Holdings as the lead financier, according to the Nigerian government.
Both companies made a formal presentation of a $60 billion proof-of-funds for the project this week, the government said. De-Sadel, which is also involved in a proposal to convert some of Nigeria’s diesel-powered trains to run on liquefied and compressed natural gas, plans to open completed sections of the rail line in three years. Nigeria’s junior petroleum resources minister pledged to supply gas to the contractor for the project.