In the first quarter of 2024, Nigeria’s expenditure on servicing the debt incurred for building its railways far exceeded the revenue generated by its railway system.
This is according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics which explained that the country spent 2,470% more on servicing railway debt than it earned from railway services revenue.
Specifically, total revenue from rail services amounted to ₦2 billion in Q1 2024. Passenger revenue contributed ₦1,420,923,315 billion, while ₦607,315,323 million was derived from goods/cargo services. This contrasts with total revenue of ₦6.07 billion in 2023.
Within the period, the Nigerian government spent a total of ₦51.4 billion on debt service payments for loans related to the Nigeria Railway Modernization Project, including the Idu Kaduna Section and the Lagos-Ibadan Section.
Comparatively, in the first quarter of 2023, railway revenue amounted to ₦999.71 million, with 441,725 passengers traveling via the rail system, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
It’s noteworthy that the Federal Government aims to achieve ₦7.01 billion in revenue from train passengers by 2025, as outlined in the Nigeria Agenda 2050 document launched by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
It also aimed to elevate Nigeria to a top middle-income economy with a per capita GDP of $33,328 annually by 2050.
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