China secures $12 billion railway deal with Nigeria

China Railway Construction Corp (1186.HKG) signed a US$12 billion deal with Nigeria yesterday to build an inter-city railway, China’s biggest overseas engineering contract to date, South China Morning Post reported, citing state media. A 1,402km railway will be built along the coast of Nigeria from the financial capital Lagos to Calabar. The railway will be capable of running trains at up to 120km/h and will create up to 200,000 jobs in Nigeria during construction, as well as a further 20,000 to 30,000 jobs after the railway begins service, according to a Xinhua report.