China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) will build Nigeria’s first rolling stock assembly plant to produce wagons for the country’s railway modernisation project.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held Saturday, 9 November at the town of Kajola, in the south-western state of Ogun, where the plant will generate around 5,000 jobs, Nigerian transport minister Rotimi Amaechi said, reports Xinhua.Â
Amaechi said the plant would be able to produce 500 wagons a year.
Nigeria’s vice president Yemi Osinbajo called the plant a “historic turning point”.
“When completed, it is expected that the plant will produce some wagons for the Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kaduna rail line… and to satisfy the needs of other rail operators within the West African sub-region and indeed within the African continent,” Osinbajo said.
Li Yuan, economic and commercial counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, said China’s direct investment in Nigeria’s manufacturing sector has grown to $3bn, creating tens of thousands of jobs.
Image: ©GCR, illustration by Denis Carrier
