The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission has cleared the Outline Business Case for Nigeria’s first bullet train, a $60 billion high-speed rail project to be financed by China Liancai Petroleum Investment Holdings.
The approval was announced after a meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, attended by top government officials including Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume, Minister of Transportation Said Alkali, and Minister of State for Petroleum Ekperike Ekpo, where terms with the Chinese investors were discussed.
With the OBC now approved, the project spearheaded by Nigerian firm Desadel Consortium, will proceed to the preparation of a Full Business Case for presentation to the Federal Executive Council.
Desadel Chief Executive Officer, Solomon Uko, said the bullet train project had been in the works for about a decade but stalled at the planning stage until recent months.
He explained that under the current administration, nearly 90% of required approvals have been secured, while the Chinese investment has been formally confirmed, with proof-of-funds documents presented during the meeting.
Uko stated, “The high-speed rail bullet train project that we started 10 years ago; it is this administration that has given us almost 90 percent of approvals. Today, with our partners, China’s Liancai Corporation, we have just presented official proof of funds for the project.”
“The federal government of Nigeria, through the ICRC, approved the Outline Business Case, and the next step now was for us to submit the proof of funds to the government, which we have just done,” he added.
Akume said the investment aligns with the government’s broader infrastructure drive but stressed that the submitted documents would undergo verification to confirm the availability of funds.
He noted that while there is no doubt about the investors’ commitment, reviewing the paperwork is a standard process to determine the actual amount of capital on hand.
ICRC Director General, Oseodion Ewalefoh, said the commission will review and validate all submissions to ensure the project complies with regulatory requirements before moving forward.
