A tale of two light rail projects

On September 26, Ethiopia made history by becoming the first sub-Saharan African country to have a light railway system, when it unveiled the Addis Ababa electrified light railway network. It joins the likes of Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia in building a modern and efficient urban rail transportation system that has become a sine qua non for modern cities. The two-line, 34-kilometre and 39-station tram system, started in 2012 and handled by the China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC), cost $475 million, 85 percent of which was covered through a loan by China’s Export-Import (Exim) Bank, while the remaining 15 percent was financed by the Ethiopian government.

This contrasts sharply with the Lagos light rail project whose planning began as far back as 2006. The rail system captured under the Integrated Rail Transport System was designed to link the major population and activity centres in Lagos State. The seven lines include: Red Line from Agbado to Marina (31 kilometres), Red Line extension (6 kilometres) to local and international wings of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, Blue Line on Badagry Expressway from Okokomaiko to Marina via Iddo (27 kilometres), Green Line from Marina to the proposed Lekki Airport (26 kilometres), Yello Line from Otta (Ogun State)/MM Airport to Iddo (34 kilometres), Purple Line from Redemption Camp (in Ogun State) to Lagos State University, Ojo (60 kilometres), Orange Line from Redemption Camp to Marina (42 kilometres), and the Brown Line from Mile 12 to Marina (20 kilometres).

However, the huge financial outlay forced the Lagos State government to prioritise the project and begin with the 27-kilometre Badagry line running from Okokomaiko to Marina via Iddo. The contract was awarded to China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) in 2008 at the whopping cost of $1.2 billion and was to be due in 2011. The World Bank also provided the funding for the project.

In 2011, however, very little was accomplished. The completion date was then shifted, with the then Governor Babatunde Fashola promising that it would be delivered in June 2013. However, that deadline was also missed. Another deadline for its completion was fixed for 2014, but that was also missed. Currently, only 16 kilometres of the 27-kilometre project has been completed.

A number of questions arise. First, why would a 27-kilometre project cost $1.2 billion when a 34-kilometre project cost only $475 million? Second, what is responsible for the endless delays in the completion of the project when funding has been guaranteed through a loan by the World Bank? By what magic did the Ethiopians complete a 34-kilometre rail project in a record three years when Lagos has been battling with a 27-kilometre rail project for eight years? Meanwhile, the Ethiopian government provided 15 percent counterpart funding while the Lagos State government got its entire funding through a loan.

Furthermore, if Addis Ababa, with a population of just 5 million, could be so proactive to provide the inhabitants of the city with a fast, efficient, and modern transportation system to move approximately 600,000 people daily and decongest the roads, how much more urgent can the Lagos light rail system be, in a city with a population of over 20 million and which is synonymous with killing traffic jams that sometimes last 12 hours at a stretch?

The Lagos light rail project may well represent the terrible nature of public projects in Nigeria, where contracts are usually over-inflated, awarded to party or client members as rewards for loyalty and are poorly, if at all, executed.

Whatever be the case, the Lagos State government must realise the urgency of the light rail project and do everything within its capacity to tackle whatever is delaying the delivery of that project. After all, Lagosians now pay their taxes and so deserve better services.