Benin Republic Fcfa 1,000 Billion Rail Project Launched

The 3,000 km-long network is expected to connect five West African countries.

Benin Republic President, Thomas Yayi Boni and his Niger counterpart, Mahamadou Issoufou, on Tuesday, April 8, 2014, flagged off the construction of a railway line that will connect the two countries, Radio France Internationale, RFI reported. The two leaders last November signed a Memorandum of Understanding to construct the line.

The 3,000 km West African rail loop project is expected to link up Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, Benin, Niger and Burkina Faso, costing a whooping FCFA 1,000 billion. It is being executed by French firm, Bolloré that is also sourcing the funding. Work on the Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso stretch is due to begin in August 2014.

The 1,050 km-long stretch of the line will begin in Benin's capital, Cotonou, extend to Parakou in the north and end in Niger's capital, Niamey. The cost of the project is over FCFA 618 billion, sources said. It is due for completion in four years. According to officials in Nigeria, up to 40 per cent of the construction cost is expected to come from partners, 10 per cent each from Niger and Benin, and 20 per cent each from Nigerian and Beninois private sector partners.

Tuesday's ceremony came on the heels of the commissioning earlier this week of Niger's first ever railway station in the capital. Niamey is expected to be connected to Cotonou via Dosso and Parakou within two years. The entire project is especially crucial to landlocked Niger and Burkina Faso as it will facilitate the export of agricultural products, livestock and mineral resources through Abidjan, Cotonou and Lomé in Togo. Similarly, it will boost the movement of goods and people within the sub-region.