The Federal Executive Council (FEC), presided by President Bola Tinubu on Thursday approved contracts worth nearly $3 billion for three rail projects in Lagos, Kano and Kaduna, betting big on infrastructure to ignite economic growth and ease urban congestion.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Taiwo Oyedele, who told State House Correspondenta after the cabinet meeting that the initiatives—Lagos’s Green Line rail Phase 1A, Kano’s Metro City rail and Kaduna’s light-rail system—target vital economic engines.
“These are places where 10% effort can yield up to 90% results,” he said, emphasizing their outsized potential.
The projects, totaling about $2.99 billion, will be financed by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated on behalf of the federal government, with counterpart funding from states.
Oyedele described them as core to President Bola Tinubu’s agenda for productivity gains and better living standards.
“ For economic development, you need infrastructure that works,” he added, one that “enhances productivity and growth, and also improves the quality of life.”
The move signals the country’s drive to modernize transport in its bustling hubs, where traffic snarls and poor connectivity hobble commerce.
