Traxport, Climate Focus to Strengthen Lagos-Kano Rail Programme

Traxport Rail Services Ltd has engaged climate consultancy Climate Focus to strengthen the carbon programme for its proposed Lagos-Kano Low-Carbon Freight Corridor, as the company seeks to align the project with international carbon standards and attract climate finance.

The engagement, announced on August 17, 2026, will see Climate Focus revise the project’s Project Design Document (PDD) to meet the requirements of the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) operated by Verra.

The consultancy will apply the AM0090 methodology to establish the project boundary, baseline and monitoring framework, as well as develop an ex-ante emissions-reduction calculation framework.

Climate Focus will also prepare technical materials to support subsequent validation and verification of the project under the VCS programme.

The proposed rail initiative involves the rehabilitation and intensive utilisation of about 1,500 kilometres of Nigeria’s existing narrow-gauge rail corridor to create a dedicated freight link between Lagos, the country’s principal port gateway, and Kano, a major commercial and industrial hub in the North.

Traxport is developing the corridor in partnership with the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), alongside technical and financing partners.

The project is aimed at shifting suitable long-distance freight from road to rail, with the broader objectives of reducing carbon emissions, easing pressure on Nigeria’s highways, decongesting the ports and improving logistics efficiency.

Traxport Chairman, Chukwuemeka Ndu, said the carbon component of the project would be based on “rigorous methodology, transparent assumptions and credible measurement from the outset.”

According to him, Climate Focus’s specialist expertise would strengthen the PDD, emissions-reduction framework and engagement with Nigerian authorities and prospective investors.

As the project progresses, Traxport plans to deepen engagement with Nigeria’s designated national authority, development and climate-finance institutions, prospective investors, freight customers and other stakeholders involved in the country’s transport and energy transition.

Climate Focus will support the preparation of partnership and project materials and assist Traxport in responding to technical questions relating to the carbon programme, while Traxport will retain responsibility for government and financing discussions.

The companies said the broader objective was to create a commercially viable freight corridor whose greenhouse-gas impacts could be systematically measured, reported and independently verified.

Subject to meeting VCS requirements, the project’s PDD is expected to be submitted for listing under Verra’s programme.

Successful validation and verification could ultimately enable the project to generate carbon credits linked to verified emissions reductions, potentially providing an additional financing avenue for the rehabilitation and increased utilisation of Nigeria’s freight rail network.

The initiative reflects growing efforts to combine transport infrastructure development with carbon-market mechanisms and climate finance to support lower-emission freight movement in Nigeria.