Mota-Engil SGPS SA, a Portuguese construction company, started work on a $1.8 billion railway line that will connect Nigeria with neighbor Niger.
Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi concluded a contract with Mota-Engil last month on the 283-kilometer (176-mile) line from the northern trading hub of Kano to the town of Maradi on the other side of the Nigeria-Niger border.