China Railway Construction (CRCC), a state-owned company, signed the official construction contract with the Nigerian government on Wednesday in Abuja, the Xinhua news agency reported. The $12bn agreement is meant to build a railway along Nigeria's coast and is billed as China's single largest overseas contract.
The news came two weeks after Mexico cancelled a $3.75bn bullet train deal only days after it was signed with a Chinese-led consortium headed by CRCC - the sole bidder - reportedly due to concerns about transparency.
According to the report, the Nigerian railway will stretch for 1 402 kilometres along the coast, linking Lagos, the financial capital of Africa's largest economy and leading oil producer, and Calabar in the east. The $11.97bn deal marks China's largest single overseas contract project so far, it said, citing CRCC.
The Nigeria project will adopt Chinese technological standards and lead to $4bn-worth of Chinese exports of construction machinery, trains, steel products and other equipment, CRCC chairperson Meng Fengchao said.
It will create up to 200 000 local jobs during the construction and a further 30 000 positions once the line is operational, he said.
"It is a mutually beneficial project," Meng was quoted by Xinhua as saying. Trade between the two countries totalled $13.6bn last year.
Trains will travel at a maximum speed of 120km per hour on the link, the report added.
China has dramatically stepped up its presence on the African continent in recent decades as it seeks more resources and new markets for its economy.
Li Keqiang, Chinese Premier, promised more investment and more Chinese technical expertise during a visit earlier this year.
