The deal was announced by CCECC's parent company China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) at the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges.

The new line will have a single-track length of 1385km with trains running at up to 120km/h. The 22-station line will cross 10 of Nigeria's 36 states, including the oil producing Niger Delta region.

In the last 20 years, Chinese companies have built and upgraded around 4500km of railway in Nigeria.