Portuguese contractor Mota-Engil has signed a $916m deal with Nigeria’s Ministry of Transportation to supply and finance railway rolling stock for the new, $2bn Kano–Maradi–Dutse railway.

This is a 284km standard-gauge line that will run between Kano, capital of the northern state of Kano, and Maradi, the second largest city in Niger and a centre of that country’s developing oil industry. It will also run east from Kano to Dutse, the capital of Jigawa State.

Mota-Engil, which has an extensive presence in Africa, was awarded that project in January 2021. The rolling stock for this latest phase will be delivered over the next 48 months.

The company commented in a press statement: “The contract reinforces the commitment of the Nigerian government to improve the regional connectivity and the economic development in the north of the country, and strengthens the capacity of Mota-Engil Group to support that development effort in this region of Africa.”

Nigeria’s government, under former President Muhammadu Buhari, has sought to rebuild the impoverished north of the country to discourage recruitment by Islamist insurgents.