A United States’ company, General Electric, GE, has expressed “keen interest” in acquiring a Nigeria railway concession project worth around $2 billion.

This was contained in a statement the company mailed to the Reuters News Agency on Monday.

President Muhammadu Buhari, in his October 1 anniversary speech, had hinted that GE would be investing $2.2 billion in a concession to revamp, provide rolling stock, and manage some of the country’s railways.

The statement read in part: “Given the size and scope of the proposed project, it is likely that the debt and equity commitments required from lenders, consortium partners and other co-developers will be in the range of $2 billion or more.”

It added that the concession was already undergoing formal procurement processes.

Nigeria has been looking for partners to overhaul its ageing railway system, which was mainly built by British colonial rulers before the country’s independence in 1960.

The ministry of transport revealed in September that Nigeria had also signed two deals worth around $5 billion with China Civil Engineering Construction Corp, CCECC, to modernise and build railways in the north and south of the country.

Jay Ireland, a senior executive of General Electric was quoted as saying that aside the railway concession project, the company is currently spending around $150 million on capital expenditures in Nigeria.