Shuaibu Audu, minister of steel development, says the Federal Government has attracted a $10bn investment from various investors towards the revitalisation of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex and National Iron Ore Corporation, NIOMCO.
Shuaibu, who disclosed this at the ongoing 2024 ministerial briefing in Abuja, said aside from the original builders of the plant, Tyamzhpromexport, TPE, and many others had shown interest in investing in reviving the plant.
He said they had been given two mandates following the creation of the ministry by President Tinubu, adding that, “One is the revival of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex and the National Iron Ore Company (NIOMCO) as well as the revival of the steel industry.”
“Jindal Steel Group had indicated an interest in investing up to $5 billion in a new steel plant in Nigeria on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in New Delhi, India, in September 2023, and it is now considering either acquiring existing plants or setting up greenfield plants.”
He further informed that upon the completion of these deals, about $10 billion worth of new investments in both new and existing steel plants in Nigeria would be established, which will create over 500,000 direct and indirect jobs in the steel industry in line with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for massive job creation through industrialization.”
Shuaibu recalled that the steel plant which was built over 45 years earlier, was already at 98% completion when it was left comatose at the end of the Shehu Shagari administration in 1979. He added that several efforts by previous administrations to complete the project had remained unfulfilled.
“With the president’s commitment, we are at the final stages of securing an N35bn investment from private investors to start the light steel rail. We have obtained presidential approval to raise private capital to restart the Ajaokuta light section rail so that we can produce iron rods”.
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