Nigeria aims to commission the 284-kilometer Kano–Katsina section of the railway to Maradi in Niger in December, after physical progress passed 75% in late August, Nigeria's information ministry said. Contractor Mota-Engil expects to complete the Katsina–Maradi extension into Niger by the end of 2027, its chief financial officer said, according to the ministry.
Analysis: The Nigerian section opens first. Traders in Niger will not have a rail link until the Katsina–Maradi extension is finished, about a year after the December target for Kano–Katsina, by our calculation. The ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development approved $100mn on September 28 for rolling stock and operating equipment, ThisDay reported, so financing for the trains is in place. A rail outlet through Nigeria matters to importers because food security monitor FEWS NET assumes that Niger's border with Benin stays closed to May 2027. Niger created a national rail company, SNTR, on October 29. Nigeria's transport ministry has given December as the commissioning month, without a published day.
Source: Federal Government of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation (Nigeria), 'Kano-Katsina rail project over 75% complete, FG reaffirms December 2026 commissioning' (August 27, 2026), August 2026; Federal Government of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation (Nigeria), release of August 27, 2026, December 2026; NotreAfrik, NotreAfrik (October 8, 2026), end-2027; NotreAfrik, NotreAfrik, 'Kano–Maradi : 100 millions $ de la BIDC pour les trains' (October 8, 2026), September 2026; ThisDay, ThisDay, 'EBID Approves $100m for Kano-Maradi Rail Project' (October 1, 2026), September 2026; Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), FEWS NET, Niger – Perspectives sur la sécurité alimentaire, octobre 2026 à mai 2027, May 2027; Nigerinter (private online press), republishing the Secrétariat général du Gouvernement, Communiqué du Conseil des ministres du jeudi 29 octobre 2026 (as republished by Nigerinter), October 2026