There
are indications that Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire will work together to
execute a number of transport infrastructural projects to speed up the
economic development in the two countries.
Already, the two nations have agreed to
jointly fight against coastline piracy and have initiated discussion on
the construction of rail line between Abidjan and Lagos.
The Minister of Transport, Senator Idris
Umar, gave the hint in Abuja while receiving his counterpart from Cote
d’Ivoire, Mr. Gaoussou Toure.
Umar, in a statement from the Federal
Ministry of Transport on Friday said, “The Federal Government will wish
to partner with the government of Cote d’Ivoire in the development of
railway services that will link other African countries.”
He explained that the rail linkage would
not only boost the transport sector but also improve trade relationship
among the countries in the West African sub-region.
The minister observed that feasibility studies to align the various corridors on the West African rail lines were ongoing.
Umar told his guest that the Nigerian government had embarked on the modernisation of rail infrastructure within the country.
According to him, the Federal Government
has rehabilitated 90 per cent of the existing narrow gauge rail lines,
one of which is the Lagos-Kano rail line.
The government, he said, had also
embarked on modernisation of railway tracks with double gauge between
Abuja and Kaduna which would be completed soon.
He said the feasibility studies on the
modernisation of railway projects in other parts of the country and the
alignment of the various corridors on the West African rail line were
ongoing.
He also announced the readiness of the
Federal Government to collaborate with the government of Cote d’Ivoire
in combating piracy in the West African territorial waters.
Umar said the joint efforts by the two
countries became necessary in order to completely stop the activities of
pirates and armed robbers on the West African coast line.
He urged the government of Cote d’Ivoire to strategise on measures that would bring about a lasting solution to the menace.
He said Nigeria already had bilateral
relations with the government of Benin Republic on maritime safety and
noted that the relationship was yielding positive results for the two
countries.
Umar, therefore, called on both foreign
and local investors to invest in the transport sector in African
countries so as to boost their economies, stressing that government
could not transform the sector alone.
Earlier, Toure had said he was in
Nigeria to seek the Federal Government’s assistance and partnership in
the areas of transport, aviation, roads, trade and investment.
He said Cote d’Ivoire had plans to
partner with other African countries to construct rail lines from
Abidjan to Accra (Ghana) and to Benin and Lagos.
The Ivorian Transport Minister said
Nigeria, being the hub of economic activities in Africa, had developed
its infrastructural facilities to the level that it could lend support
to other African countries including Cote d’Ivoire.
He called on Nigerian businesspeople to invest in his country’s economy.
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