ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on recent West African attempts at upgrading and integrating railway infrastructure to address mobility challenges faced by growing populations. As a result of constrained economic and financial resources, as well as limited political coordination amongst West African governments, new rail infrastructure projects have been primarily driven, financed, and managed by external actors, key amongst them being Chinese firms. This chapter first provides a historical overview of railway developments in West African countries, which have been characterised by competition and fragmentation. Next, the current state and operational performance of West Africa’s railway infrastructure are documented. This chapter then elucidates Chinese involvement in the Abuja-Kaduna rail line in Nigeria, focusing on, amongst others, the mode of financing, implementation type, and actors involved. Finally, the impact of Chinese investment in the railway project in terms of standards and technical specifications, alongside the question of interoperability at the regional level, is discussed. This chapter concludes that an integrated regional railway system that can challenge modern road transportation remains a distant reality in West Africa.
