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General Electric (GE) has confirmed its interest in acquiring a Nigeria railway concession project worth around $2 billion.
The U.S. company gave the confirmation said on Monday.
President Muhammadu Buhari had during his Independence Day broadcast on October said that GE would be investing $2.2 billion in a concession to revamp, provide rolling stock, and manage some of the country’s railways.
“Given the size and scope of the proposed project, it is likely that the debt and equity commitments required from lenders, consortium partners and other co-developers will be in the range of $2 billion or more,” GE said in a statement obtained by Reuters on Monday.
The company said the concession was in the formal procurement process.
Nigeria has been looking for partners to overhaul its ageing railway system, which was mainly built by British colonial rulers before the country’s independence in 1960.
The country has also signed two deals worth around $5 billion with China Civil Engineering Construction Corp (CCECC), part of China’s state-owned railway construction firm, to modernise and build railways in the north and south of the country.