The Nigerian Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has signed an additional contract worth $500m with China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) to complete sections 1A and 3 of the Abuja Light Rail Project.
The project will be carried out in different phases and is expected to be finished within three years.
Upon completion of the track works, the trains and coaches are scheduled to be deployed at the project before May 2015.
The Nigerian federal government has received a $500m loan for the project from the Chinese Exim Bank.
The project initially commenced in 2006, but was started in earnest in 2009 due to an initial lack of funds.
Before securing the loan, FCTA and the federal government had spent about NGN22bn ($139m) completing 20% of the project.
FCTA had hired a consultant to carry out due diligence to make sure that the work was done to standard, while staff of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) provided technical and supervisory support.
The project also included construction of new flyovers, bridges and underpasses, increasing the overall work from 60.67km to 77.78km.
After completion, the Abuja Light Rail Project will ease transportation and better connect satellite towns to Abuja.
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