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FG awards railway concession to General Electric
The American conglomerate was announced the preferred bidder after a competitive bidding process, which involves some corporations from China, Japan and other advanced nations.
President Muhammadu Buhari takes a train ride with the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi and the Minsiter of state for Aviation, Hadi Sarika.
Speaking during the award ceremony held in Abuja, the government noted that the concessionaire would be injecting over N671 billion ($2.2 billion) in the project which is expected to transverse across the country.
The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr Sabiu Zakari handed over the letter of award to the President and Chief Executive Officer, GE, Mrs Jamie Miller.
The project is expected to have two major trunk lines, one of which will start from Lagos and go through several states like Ogun, Oyo, Kwara, Niger and Kaduna down to Kano.
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The second trunk line is expected to start from Port Harcourt through Abia, Enugu, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Bauchi and Gombe states, and terminates in Maiduguri.
Speaking on behalf of the Minister, Mr Zakari noted that the Federal Executive Council approved the outline of the business case and consented to the commencement of the project.
“The Federal Executive Council has approved the outline business case for the concession of the narrow gauge rail lines across the country. Today the President, Transport Section of GE, who are the preferred bidder for the concession, came and collected the letter of award.
“Based on that, we had a few discussions on the interim solutions that should be on board before the final concession agreement. We will also go into an interim arrangement with GE that will see them provide us with locomotives and wagons, as well as the renovation of the narrow gauge lines, which will now enable usage.”
Zakari added that the concessionaire is expected to bring in 100 wagons and 20 locomotives before the end of the year. This, he noted, would aid freight and movement of passengers.
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The CEO of GE, Mrs Miller also said that the GE will be working on the project with its partners, and that the firm was pleased to emerge as the preferred bidder.
“GE and its partners will work with the Federal Government to work through a concession process that will bring the railway operations alive. GE will bring both project management and deep knowledge of the industry, and how to make projects like this in a successful way.”
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