El-Rufai secures $6m loan from Indian bank for Kaduna light rail, BRT

Governor Nasir El-Rufai has disclosed that Kaduna State has obtained a $6 million loan from the Indian Xing Bank to construct a light rail system that would run from Rigachikun to Maraban Rido as well as a French concessionary line of credit for the construction of a bus rapid transit system (BRT).

In his remarks during the BRT’s groundbreaking in Kaduna on Friday, El-Rufai noted that the state government has developed a three-pronged strategy to address transportation issues for both efficient pedestrian and vehicle travel.

He said: ‘’We began to explore the possibility of having a light rail stretching from Rigachikun to Maraban Rido and we made progress securing financing from Indian Xing Bank to the tune of 6 million dollars to execute that project.

“We engaged the famous French Transportation Consulting firm, Systra to do the feasibility studies as well as engineering design for the project, however, government has been unable to find someone that will operate the light rail when it is completed.

READ ALSO:Why I’ll not retire to Senate in 2023 – El-Rufai

“And we think it is important to do that before we proceed. The second component of the transportation problems is BRT, which the government initially had difficulty in financing the project. The French government kindly stepped in and through its development Agency, AFD offered us a line of credit, a concessionary line of credit to finance this project.’’

El Rufai expressed gratitude to the ‘’government of France as well as the Ambassador and her team for being patient and pushing very hard to get this project to this stage. I’m optimistic that in a couple of years, Kaduna will have a functioning Bus Rapid Transit that will be moving tens of thousands of people every day.

“With this project, government will be partnering with the smaller bus operators and Kaduna State Transport Authority to carry most of the traffic of people coming to work and back home every day in the city of Kaduna. We hope with the success of this project, we will extend this to Zaria Metropolitan area and Kafanchan Municipal area and gradually to all our major towns and cities,’’ he said.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now