The Nigeria-Niger Republic railway project may be at risk after the rupture of the diplomatic ties between Nigeria and Niger following the July 26 coup in which President Muhammed Bazoum was ousted from office by military officers led by Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani.

This came as over 1,000 trucks conveying goods worth over N350m to Nigeria other West African nations have remained trapped at the borders for over one week following the closure of the respective gateways to the two neighbouring countries.

The Federal Government and the Nigerien junta had ordered the immediate closure of all land borders between the two countries after the political development in the landlocked country.

In 2021, the Federal Government revealed its plan to construct a 284km rail line to the Niger Republic.

According to the former minister of transport, Rotimi Amaechi, the project will cost the country about $2bn and would be funded by Nigeria through loans from external sources.

Earlier in March, the Muhammadu Buhari administration agreed to release an additional N454bn in public funds to continue the construction of the Kano-Niger Railway and other capital projects.

According to the former transportation minister, the N454bn would be used to purchase rolling stock, operation and maintenance equipment for the Kano-Maradi standard gauge rail line, which is currently under construction.

The sum also includes N510.93m for the purchase of four customised fire service/search and rescue vans for seaports in Port Harcourt, Lagos Port Complex, Tin Can Island port, and the Nigerian Ports Authority’s Marina headquarters.

The 248-kilometre rail line will connect Kano to other cities such as Kazaure in Bauchi State, Daura and Mashi in Katsina state, Dutse in Jigawa state, and the border town of Jibia before terminating in Maradi, Niger Republic’s trade and agricultural hub.

The line has 15 stations along its route and is expected to carry 9,364 passengers and 3000 metric tonnes of cargo per day.

The contract was awarded to MSSRS Mota-Engil Nigeria Limited for $984,722,302, which was inclusive of seven and a half per cent VAT with a completion period of four years.

However, the project met with opposition, particularly from lawmakers.

The proposed rail project was criticised by the National Assembly joint committee on land and marine transport in November 2021.

In June 2021, Buhari defended his government’s initiative to build a railway to connect Nigeria and Niger Republic during an exclusive interview on Arise TV.

He said, “I have first cousins in Niger. There are Kanuris, there are Hausas and there are Fulanis in Niger Republic, just as there are Yorubas in Benin Republic.

“You can’t absolutely cut them off. But the rail, look at the plan. If you read the plan, how we are rehabilitating that rail. Niger, they discovered oil too as you know and we don’t want to allow them to go through Benin Republic. We want them to come through Nigeria.

“We hope they will decide when we take the rail up to Maradi. Then they will send all their exports and so on through Nigeria rather than through Benin.”

Recently, Mota-Engil Nigeria Limited stated the 400km railway line would be completed by 2025.

Siemens Energy, a German engineering company, says plans to complete the revamping of Nigeria’s power infrastructure will take an additional five years than originally planned due to delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).

Oladayo Orolu, head of business development and government relations at Siemens Energy, spoke in an interview with Bloomberg.

In July 2019, the federal government signed a power project deal with Siemens AG to deliver 7,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity to the national grid by 2021, and 11,000 megawatts by 2023 — in phases one and two of this initiative, respectively.

The deal was under the presidential power initiative (PPI), a power upgrade and modernisation programme between the Nigerian government and Siemens with the support of the German government.

A year later, the federal government approved the payment of €15.21 million and N1.708 billion as counterpart funding for the project.

In December 2021, the federal executive council (FEC) also approved $1.9 million and €62.9 million for phase one of the project which sought to modernise, rehabilitate, and expand the national grid.

Abubakar Aliyu, the former minister of power, had said the three-phased project would expand Nigeria’s electricity to 25,000MW when completed, and “commence in the first quarter of 2022”.

But the project has since been behind schedule.

Providing updates during the Bloomberg interview, Orolu said the deal to rehabilitate and expand the country’s electricity grid by 2025, will now be concluded in 2030.

“The three-phase project was set back by delays in starting the first phase,” he said.

“When we conceptualised this project in 2018, our plan was within two years we should be done with phase one, but then COVID happened, disrupting supply chains, which meant getting raw materials took longer than before.”

Orolu also said “cost overruns also affected the project’s completion, as we expected electricity output to increase by an additional 2,000 megawatts at the completion of phase one by 2025”.

“We currently have 5000, we are looking at taking that to 7,000,” he added.

“Prices are not at the same level they used to be. In 2020, phase one was projected to cost about €2 billion.

“Some raw material components costs have been doubled, some are still close to where they used to be, some are just marginally higher.”

Meanwhile, former President Muhammadu Buhari, in October 2022, said 20 power transformers and mobile stations will be delivered from Germany and installed in the country by May 2023.

Several heatwaves recorded in Spain and wider Europe this summer have worsened the drought, lowering reservoirs’ levels as water evaporation and consumption increased, says Ruben del Campo, spokesperson for Spain’s meteorological agency AEMET.

People sunbathed on the reservoir’s newly-exposed shore, where a few specks of grass have cropped up. Some visitors tried to paddle-surf.

Catalonia’s authorities last week imposed new water usage restrictions on 22 villages around the reservoir, near the French border, as the aquifer supplying them is also emptying.

Spain registered the driest start to a year in the first four months of 2023 since records began in the 1960s, with Catalonia and southern Spain’s Andalusia being the most affected.

The 22 villages, plus two others in southern Catalonia, which account for around 25,000 residents in total, are in a state of water emergency.

This means they must lower their consumption to a daily average of 200 liters of water per resident from a prior cap of 230.

Authorities are not limiting water for human consumption yet, but watering for agricultural purposes will be largely banned, and water use for industrial and recreational purposes has to drop by 25 percent.

The village of Agullana with 900 residents has been keeping its water usage below the 200-liter cap for several months, but its mayor said further steps will be implemented.

The Lagos State Government (LASG) has completed the construction of a modern floating jetty at CMS-Marina to enhance safe and comfortable commuting for residents and visitors.

It is also designed to serve as a strategic connection point to the recently commissioned CMS-Marina Blue Line Rail System.

According to the Managing Director of LAGFERRY, Hon. Abdoulbaq Ladi Balogun, the project is in tandem with the T.H.E.M.E.S PLUS Agenda of the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration well as the State Government’s commitment to improving facilities for a safe water transportation system aimed at the provision of reliable alternative mode of transportation and improved productivity of the residents.

“The new floating jetty will enable our boats to anchor easily, provide easier access to different parts of the city, boost economic activities along the Lagos waterways and make passenger disembarkment more comfortable and safer”, he stated.

While assuring that the present administration is fully committed to achieving the multimodal transport system of connectivity between the road, rail and water, Balogun informed that the Floating Pontoon Jetty is made from strong, durable materials and safe choice for all weather conditions and can ride out a storm without resistance from the water and will not cause damage to boats due to the changing tides, being too high or too low.

The floating jetty constructed for the Lagos Ferry Services (LAGFERRY) and other Boat Operators, is built to international standards with all safety features such as a fire extinguisher compartment, safety lifebuoys, an inbuilt fender on the side of the fingers, gangway for disembarkation and boarding.

The CMS-MARINA corridor, apart from being one of two major points with a seamless connection between Bus Rapid Transport (BRT), the Blue Line Rail Transport and Water Transport, is the waterways hub with huge ridership in thousands on a daily basis; linking several coastal areas such as Badore-Ajah in Eti Osa Local Government; Ipakodo, Ibeshe, Ijede in Ikorodu Local Government; Ilaje Bariga Waterfront in Somolu / Bariga Local government; Liverpool, Ajegunle and TinCan Island in Apapa / Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government; Mile 2, Sabonkoji, Ilashe, Ibeshe, Ikare, Ijegun Egba in Amuwo-Odofin / Oriade Local Government; Ebute Ojo, Ijanikin / Oto-Awori / Agbara in Ojo Local Government and Apa, Topo, Iworo-Ajido and Ebute Miller Marina in Badagry Local Government, among other.