.Commends Nigerian govt
By Valentine Amanze, Online Editor
The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA) has commended the federal government of Nigeria for fagging off of a rail line linking Nigeria with Nigeria Republic.
It also appealed for improved innovative private sector participation in the development and operations of the various rail sectors across the country.
The railway project, initiated by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, traverses Kano, Katsina up to Maradi in Niger Republic.
The Director General of NACCIMA, Amb Ayo Olukanni, in a statement, described the project as a welcome development and a strategic move to boost economic activities along the entire rail line – from Nigeria to Maradi, Niger Republic.
Olukanni said that the new rail link was a people- oriented project for inclusive and sustainable economic growth and development, stressing that it was in line with the vision of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to upscale transport infrastructure in the sub-region.
“It is worthy of note that this rail project will enhance faster and free movement of people as envisioned under ECOWAS.
“It will also help to expand trade and economic activities between people on the rail corridor, and others from various geo-economic zones in the country including the Northern geo-economic zone and Niger Republic.
“As a land locked country the people and economic operators in Niger Republic, will be delighted with this development because on completion this standard gauge rail system will significantly improve transportation logistics and expand the volume of goods and industrial raw materials, which are currently conveyed as in-transit goods by trucks from Nigerian ports to Niger Republic with attendants problems,” he said.
According to him, an efficient rail system would certainly be of greater advantage and much better.
He said that the rail line was an appropriate transport infrastructure, which the Afcta Agreement also underscored as part of the infrastructure to facicilate movement of goods for the successful implementation of the agreement. The project, he said, was visionary because it would facilitate and boost logistics supplies from the coastal ports in Nigeria to the various states it will pass through and up to Niger Republic.