The ground-breaking ceremony of the Lagos-Kano railway, a China-Nigeria joint cooperative project, was officially launched by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday in Lagos.

The ceremony, Obasanjo said, "is historic... and marks the first major step in Nigeria's quest for a modern railway system to drive and complement Nigeria's economic regeneration efforts."

The president also said it was a clear signal of the strength and value of Nigeria-China strategic partnership.

Lin Rongxin, president of the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) which helped to design and construct the line, also addressed the ceremony.

"The project will provide a historic opportunity for the development and booming of the economy of the areas along the railway line in particular and the whole Nigeria," said Lin.

As the first-phase of Nigeria's railway modernization project and also China's largest infrastructural project contracted abroad, the 1,315-km-long double-track railway is expected to employ up to 50,000 Nigerians, Lin said.

When completed, the railway will be the first modern, standard- gauge line in the most populous African country which will have an annual transport capacity of 60 million tons of cargo, in addition to meeting the demands of passenger shipment.

The construction of the 1,315-km-long double-track line involved a total investment of 8.3 billion U.S. dollars, with a preferential loan of 1 billion dollars provided by the China Import and Export Bank.

Also participating in the ceremony were Nigeria's Minister of State for Transport Barrister Aliyu and Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria Xu Jianguo as well as state governors.

Source: Xinhua