President Bola Tinubu has announced that the Federal Government plans to complete the 284-kilometre Kano–Jigawa–Katsina–Maradi railway project by 2026.
The president made this known on Friday in Katsina during the inauguration of the Katsina State Agricultural Mechanisation Centre and a 24-kilometre Eastern Bypass, as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
According to Tinubu, the railway line, which connects Kano in Nigeria to Maradi in neighbouring Niger Republic, will significantly improve the movement of people and goods in the region once completed.
“The Federal Government plans to complete the 284 kilometre Kano-Jigawa-Katsina-Maradi rail project by 2026.
“When finished, the project will ease the transportation of persons and goods, thereby relieving the pressure on our roads,” he said.
President Tinubu also announced that the Federal Government has awarded contracts for the rehabilitation of key road networks, including the Marabar Kankara–Dutsinma–Katsina Road and the Zaria–Hunkuyi–Dabai–Kafur–Malumfashi–Dayi–Gidan Mutumdaya Road.
He assured that the second phase of the ongoing Katsina–Kano Road project would be completed following the resolution of technical and bureaucratic delays.
What you should know
The Kano–Maradi railway project was initiated during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, who in September 2020 secured Federal Executive Council approval for $1.96 billion to fund the 284-kilometre standard gauge railway line.
The project was designed to link Kano in Nigeria to Maradi in Niger Republic, passing through key states including Jigawa and Katsina.
In January 2021, the Federal Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mota-Engil, a Portuguese construction firm, to handle the $1.8 billion contract—the largest in the company’s history—covering the railway’s design, construction, and supply of rolling stock.
- By May 2024, under the current administration, Minister of Transportation Saidu Alkali announced that the Kano–Daura section of the railway would be completed by 2025, reaffirming commitment to the project’s phased delivery.
- In July 2024, Portugal’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Jorge Adao Martins Dos Santos, confirmed that the full rail line remained on track for completion by 2026, with Portuguese firms continuing construction work.
- Then, in October 2024, Senator Adamu Aliero, Chair of the Senate Committee on Land Transport, revealed that the Federal Government had secured $350 million from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to support the Kano–Maradi railway project.
He also disclosed that the 2024 supplementary budget had earlier allocated over N530 billion as counterpart funding for the project, while the remaining 85% of the financing would be sourced from institutions such as the China Exim Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC), and AfDB.
