The Federal Government expects train passengers to generate N7.01 billion in revenue by 2025. This was stated in the recently released Nigeria Agenda 2050 document by outgoing President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
At the event, Buhari stated that the document’s adoption will “ensure that Nigeria achieves a per capita GDP of $33,328 per annum, placing her among the top middle-income economies globally by 2050.” Buhari stated that the plan will also raise real GDP growth by 7%, create 165 million new employment, and reduce the number of Nigerians living in poverty from 83 million in 2020 to 2.1 million in 2050.
The document further stated that the Federal Government expects to earn up to N30 billion from train passengers by 2050. The Federal Government spent $247.98m (which amounts to N111.23bn using the Central Bank of Nigeria’s December 30, 2022, the official exchange rate of N448.55) servicing railway debts in the last two years while making only N11.61bn from railway services during the period.
Also, in 2022, the number of passengers was 3.21 million, while goods were 118,587 tonnes. The growth of the country’s rail services has been hampered by Insecurity and mismanagement.