China Railway Construction Corp. wins $12b railway project in Nigeria

China Railway Construction Corp. has signed a deal worth in the region of $12 billion with the Nigerian government to build a coastal railway.

China and Nigeria have signed an official construction contract as part of a deal worth $12 billion. The construction project will be China's largest overseas contract to date.

The contractor will be China Railway Construction Corp. and it will build a railway along the coast of Nigeria. The project is expected to create approximately 200,000 local jobs and could help China gain a firmer landing in resource-rich regions of Africa.

“We set a high standard for this project, and hope the standard would become a benchmark for China’s mechanical and construction exports in the future,” says Cao Baogang, CRCC vice chairman.

The announcement comes shortly after Mexico abruptly scrapped a billion-dollar high-speed rail contract with CRCC over alleged transparency concerns.

China is pumping money into the railway sector to shore up slowing growth - as well as to showcase its infrastructure technology worldwide. CRCC’s Shanghai-listed shares were up more than two percent Thursday.