Belt & Road Project: New airport terminal thrives in Nigerian capital

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Nigeria is reaping the benefits of the new airport terminal in the capital city, 8 months after its commissioning. The Abuja terminal - one of the biggest in West Africa - is one of several China-invested projects in the country. CGTN's Kelechi Emekalam has more.

Departures and Arrivals. It's a hive of activity here at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, months after its commissioning.

The terminal occupies approximately 56,000 square meters - One of the biggest in the West African region.

It's a massive departure from what's obtained at the old terminal.

MAHMUD SANI AIRPORT MANAGER "The old terminal optimally it's about a million passengers terminal, annually we make like 1.3 million. But with the new terminal building, we're expecting 13 million optimally and 15 million maximum annually."

Asky Airlines opened operations here in January 2019. Since then, several others have joined - conveying hundreds of thousands of passengers within and outside the country.

And for travelers here, it's a major milestone.

CHINYERE JOE PASSENGER "It's been amazing. The infrastructure is really really good, the ambiance is amazing and I mean coming in here you will know that it's of high international standard."

Nigeria requires at least 30 billion dollars annually to bridge its infrastructure gap. And projects like this brings the country another step towards closing the deficit.

KELECHI EMEKALAM ABUJA "The New airport terminal was inaugurated December 2018. It was constructed by Chinese firm CCECC and funded from the China EXIM bank. It's part of Government's deliberate policy to sustain the development of Nigeria's infrastructure. Similar projects are ongoing in 3 other cities including Lagos, Kano and Portharcourt."

The Abuja airport terminal cost a total of $600 million - $500 million loan from China and a counterpart funding of $100 million from Nigeria.

LISHENG HUI CCECC PROJECT MANAGER 'It's one of the projects of the Belt and Road, and as the project is put into use now it has changed the standard of the airport. It's an international airport standard. With this, it makes its passengers comfortable and convenient. And because of that, it would bring more investors from outside to help develop the economy of Nigeria."

The International Airport is the first to be connected to the rail transport. More Work is still ongoing here but it's expected to have progressed extensively by year end.

Kelechi Emekalam CGTN Abuja Nigeria.