Africa > West Africa > Mali > Nigeria's Dangote sets sights on the Dakar-Bamako railway

Mali: Nigeria's Dangote sets sights on the Dakar-Bamako railway

2015/07/29

Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote has expressed interest in revitalising the moribund Dakar-Bamako railway transport.

Senegalese media said Tuesday that the Nigerian millionaire’s decision stemmed from the fact that he would need to export his cement to other nations in the sub region.

Since early this year, the ‘Dangote Ciment’ became the third cement producer in Senegal next Sahel and Soccocim factories located near Dakar.

The Senegal cement sector produces about eight million tons per year and only three million is reportedly consumed locally.
Aliko Dangote

The Dakar-Bamako railway has been facing critical financial and technical problems that have led to its being moribund four nearly five years presently.

In its heydays, the link transported millions of passengers annually, mainly from Dakar to Mali, where others would continue onwards to Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo and Ghana.

The railway link had been a particularly helpful artery for the landlocked Mali.

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