Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi (photo), has revealed that the Federal Government has finalized plans to take a loan of $6.1billion from China’s Exim Bank to complete all rail projects across the country by 2019.

Amaechi, who disclosed this during the Ministry’s 2017 budget proposal defense at the National Assembly in Abuja, said that the President Muhammadu Buhari had insisted that all rail projects in the country awarded by previous administrations must be revived and completed before December 2019. In this regard, the government had targeted the construction of the Lagos – Ibadan, Kano – Kaduna rail projects and the first phase of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Rail, amongst others under the 2017 budget.

“Our plan is to complete the rail projects in 2019. Once our borrowing plan of $6.1 billion from the Exim Bank is approved by the National Assembly, we will be able to access the loan from the Chinese Government and work will commence in earnest,” he added.

According to the minister, the main focus of the Ministry’s 2017 Budget is to provide effective and efficient means of transportation for the nation, while contributing to the national development.

Anita Fatunji