ABUJA, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese engineering firm on Thursday officially began construction in one of Nigeria's major intercity road projects partly funded by China.
The intercity road project, being built by the China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC) Ltd., passes through the Nigerian capital city of Abuja, linking Nasarawa and Benue states in the country's central region.
The road project consists of two parts: the 5.4 km expansion of Abuja-Keffi expressway, linking Abuja to Nasarawa, and the reconstruction and dualization of the 221.8 km Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi expressway, linking Nasarawa to Benue.
Speaking at the flag-off ceremony in Keffi town of Nasarawa, federal minister of power, works, and housing Babatunde Fashola described the intercity road project as "connecting people."
"It is part of the government's effort to connect Nigeria with transport infrastructure," Fashola said.
Total cost of the project is estimated at around 500 million U.S. dollars. The Nigerian government will secure loans of 85 percent funding of the total amount needed for the project from the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of China, while the remaining 15 percent will be raised by the government itself, the minister noted.
Many Nigerian officials, including cabinet ministers, senators and governors, as well as locals, attended the flag-off ceremony.
For more than a decade, commuters often experience a long stretch of gridlock along the Abuja-Keffi expressway on a daily basis.
Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa said the road project would reduce not only travel time on the route but also the number of accidents in that axis due to a very narrow path.
The expansion of the Abuja-Keffi expressway by the CHEC is expected to last three years, during which a two-lane auxiliary road will be built on the existing six-lane section.
Likewise, the Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi expressway will be widened from the current two-lane road into a two-way, four-lane section.
Also speaking at the ceremony, Chinese ambassador to Nigeria Zhou Pingjian said China highly values its relations with Nigeria.
Zhou commended the Nigerian government's focus on improving transportation infrastructure as a key execution priority to achieve the country's national economic plan.
The envoy noted that infrastructure and connectivity is part of the eight major initiatives of the 2018 Beijing summit on the Forum of China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held two months ago, saying the road project is a testimony of the steady and sustainable progress of China-Nigeria relations in that regard.
"To implement the outcome of the FOCAC Beijing summit promptly and efficiently, and jointly advance the Belt and Road Initiative, what we are doing here today will, undoubtedly, inject strong and new impetus to the effort by China and Nigeria to the pursuit of a closer community with a shared future," Zhou said.
"China remains committed to stepping up its brotherly commitment to Nigeria," he added.
The major works for the road project also include roadbed, bridges, culverts, drainage, pavement, toll station building, traffic safety facilities, mechanical and electrical equipment, and greening works.
