Chairman and CEO of BUA Group, Abdul-Samad Rabiu has said transporting a container from China to Lagos is cheaper than from Lagos to Kano.
Rabiu stated this in Paris while speaking on the huge opportunities in the Nigerian transportation system, especially the rail sector. He added that investment in the sector would unveil these opportunities for the country and investors.
The chairman commended the Buhari administration’s investment in rail infrastructure across the country while urging global financiers and private investors to invest in the rail sector.
He said the large farmland in Nigeria, is something to explore in commercial agriculture, mining and manufacturing by investors.
According to him, Nigeria has tons of different mineral resources including limestone which is used in the production of cement.
“Nigeria is sitting on 45 billion tons of limestones and presently all the cement factories in the country combined are producing 30 million tons of cement daily.
“We are able to produce for local consumption and also for export.
“One of my plants in Sokoto is exporting cement to Niger Republic which is about 120km to the plant and also to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, which is about 400km away from Sokoto.
“Nigeria is one of twelve countries in the world that have large deposit of iron ore, gas and coal, but unfortunately the country is importing steel.
“We spend $2.5 billion annually importing steel to Nigeria.
“With $2.5 billion, we should be able to set up a plant that can produce steel of 1.5 to 2 million tons per annum.”
Alleluia is the Assistant Editor and Content Writer at LagosPost.ng. She is a prolific writer and editor, she has written features and news stories on Lifestyle, Sports, Business, Politics and B2B marketing. She is also an event coordinator, host and social media content creator.
