Completed Mixed AidData Chinese Aid

China Eximbank provides $500 million preferential buyer’s credit for Phase 1 of Abuja Light Rail Network Project (Linked to Record ID#73400)

$500K USD

Funder	Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank)
Recipient Organization	Government of Nigeria
Country	Nigeria
Start Date	Nov 07, 2012
End Date	Jul 27, 2029
Duration	6,106 days
Number of Grantees	1
Roles	Recipient
Data Source	AidData Chinese Aid
Grant ID	`1851`

Grant Description

China Eximbank provides $500 million preferential buyer’s credit for Phase 1 of Abuja Light Rail Network Project On November 7, 2012, China Eximbank and the Government of Nigeria signed a $500,000,000 preferential buyer’s credit (PBC) agreement for Phase 1 of the Abuja Light Rail Network Project.

The Federal Government of Nigeria made a counterpart contribution to the project worth $314 million.

📋 Loan / Grant Terms

📅 Maturity20 years

⏳ Grace Period7 years

💹 Interest Rate2.5%

The final maturity date of the loan is September 21, 2032.

As of December 31, 2020, Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO) reported that the China Eximbank PBC (loan) had achieved a 100% disbursement rate ($500 million) and the borrower had made interest repayments worth $66.78 million and principal repayments worth $38.46 million to the lender. As such, the loan’s (principal) amount outstanding as of December 31, 2020 was $461.54 million.

Phase 1 involved the construction of a light rail network in Abuja that is 45 kilometers in length with a designed maximum speed of 100 kilometers per hour.

The network was designed to connect the center of Abuja, the Abuja-Kaduna Railway (Akha Railway), and the terminal of Abuja Airport. It involves two lines (the Yellow Line and the Blue Line) that pass through 13 stations.

The Yellow line travels from Abuja's Central Business District to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (via Stadium, Kukwaba I, Kukwaba II, Wupa, Idu, and Bassanjiwa). The Blue Line travels from Idu to Kubwa (via Gwagwa, Deidei, Kagini, and Gbazango). China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) was the EPC contractor responsible for implementation of Phase 1.

It was awarded an EPC contract in early 2007 and a formal groundbreaking ceremony took place in May 2007. However, construction did not begin until May 28, 2009. By September 2012, CCECC had achieved a 25% completion rate. As of May 2017, it had achieved a 93% completion rate. Then, on July 12, 2018, Phase 1 was completed and opened for use.

Several months earlier, on May 29, 2018, China Eximbank issued a loan to the Government of Nigeria for Phase 2 (as captured via Record ID#73400). However, Abuja Light Rail was shuttered from 2020 to 2023, ostensibly to slow the spread of Covid-19. In August 2023, Bloomberg reported that '[t]rain cars are locked away at a depot.

Cavernous stations fully equipped with escalators, ticket offices, cameras and scanners stand empty, overseen by bored security guards.

The faux leather couches in the VIP area are covered in bird and bat droppings.' Rowland Ataguba, an adviser to the Nigerian Government on rail strategy, told Bloomberg that '[i]t’s an abandoned project. [...].

Quite clearly there was no plan on how to run the operations before they built it.' Mohamed Lawal Shaibu of Envicons Teams Ltd., an urban planning consultant in Abuja, told Bloomberg that the project 'has been very terribly executed' and '[t]he [railway] line basically avoided where people are, where people live, where people go.' Bloomberg characterized the project as 'a lesson in how not to create a mass transit system.' In July 2023, a member of the Nigerian Senate noted that the lack of use of the railway 'has made it impossible to generate the revenue and pay for the maintenance, operational costs and the loan.' Then, in September 2023, CCECC pledged to complete Phase 2 of the Abuja Light Rail Project by May 2024.

📋 Staff Comments

The Chinese project title is 阿布贾城铁项目 or 的首都阿布贾铁路轨道交通项目 or 阿布贾城铁一期.
In the database of Chinese loan commitments that SAIS-CARI released in July 2020, it records the maturity length of this loan as 19-years. AidData records the maturity length (20-years) that is reported by Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO) in its “Status of Loans Obtained from China Exim As At March 31, 2020” publication.

📚 Sources & References

FG
China Exim Bank Seal $600m Deal on Abuja Light Rail
Galaxy Backbone, http://www.railjournal.com/index.php/africa/china-to-finance-abuja-light-rail.html#.UGKbzqRkF1E, http://allafrica.com/stories/200705080011.html
With China Calling
Is It Time to Say Goodbye to US And Europe?
Nigeria
China Sign $2bn MoU On Rail, http://www.chinaafricarealstory.com/2012/09/chinese-finance-abuja-light-rail-in.html
CHRONOLOGY-Chinese-African deals, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5005510.stm
ABUJA LIGHT RAIL
NEW AIRPORT TERMINALS TO BE COMPLETED BY 2015
Update on LOAN FACILITY FOR ABUJA LIGHT RAIL
NEW AIRPORT TERMINALS AND GALAXY BACKBONE
FG secures $1.1bn loan from China
Government to streamline Abuja rail mass transit project to the master – plan
PRESENTATION OF FINANCIAL AND OTHER INFORMATION
阿布贾城铁一期举行开通运营仪式
驻尼日利亚大使周平剑出席阿布贾城铁开通运营仪式
China Earth Nigeria Limited
走进非洲｜进出口银行的尼日利亚足迹
Abuja Light Rai
尼日利亚阿布贾城铁——西非首条城铁
China offers more opportunities to Nigeria
Africa as FOCAC summit begins in Beijing
尼日利亚政府批准2项与中方合作的铁路项目
走进非洲项目_中国进出口银行, http://210.25.7.15/sys/print.shtml?/huiyuan/201707/20170702604702
N299b Abuja rail nears completion 11 years after
Ambassador Zhou Pingjian attended the opening and operation ceremony of Abuja Metro
中企将承建尼日利亚首都城铁二期项目
Abuja Light Rail Begins Operation 11 Years After
Abuja Light Rail Project 93 Percent Completed- FCT, http://global.factiva.com/aa/?ref=AFNWS00020060413e24d003ju&pp=1&fcpil=en&napc=S&sa_from=
Building Bridges: China's Growing Role as Infrastructure Financier for Sub-Saharan Africa
Nigeria's Actual External Debt Service Payments in Fourth Quarter, 2018 in Thousands of USD
February 2017 Base Prospectus
November 2018 Bond Prospectus
Why expansion of Abuja light rail may take longer time than expected
A light rail project is the latest example of empty promises in Nigeria
Abuja Light Rail
Actual External Debt Service Payments
January to December, 2021
Loans Obtained From China Exim
December 31, 2020
Actual External Debt Service Payments
January - December 2013
Actual External Debt Service Payments
January - December 2014
Actual External Debt Service Payments
January to December, 2016
Actual External Debt Service Payments
January to December, 2017
Actual External Debt Service Payments
January to December, 2018
Actual External Debt Service Payments
January to December, 2019
Actual External Debt Service Payments
January to December, 2020
Actual External Debt Service Payments
January to December, 2022
Actual External Debt Service Payments
January to December, 2023
Actual External Debt Service Payments
January - March, 2024
Loans Obtained From China Exim
March 31, 2020
Loans Obtained From China Exim
September 30, 2021, 2019 Annual Report and Statement of Accounts, 2016 Annual Report and Statement of Accounts, 2015 Annual Report and Statement of Accounts
Senate Order Paper Wednesday 12th July 2023 Loan applications and disbursements are still being received and processed as the projects continue to evolve. Ongoing monitoring and evaluation are in place to ensure project continuity.

All Grantees

Government of Nigeria

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