Billionaire Bollore prepares listing of West African train project – sources

French billionaire Vincent Bollore has hired banks to prepare for a Paris listing of his West African train project in the first half of 2016, three sources close to the process said, helping to cover financing costs. The West Africa rail loop, commonly known as Blueline, will connect Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Niger, Benin, Togo and Nigeria. The project was launched in 2013 and is expected to be completed in the next eight years at an estimated cost of between €2-billion euros ($2.21-billion) and €2.5-billion.