by Nurat Uthman
The Federal Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the builders of the Ajaokuta steel plant, Messrs Tyazhpromexport, for the rehabilitation, completion and operation of the plant, and the National Iron Ore Mining Company.
The Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Audu, signed the agreement on behalf of the FG in Moscow, Russia, a statement by the ministry’s spokesperson, Salamotu Jibaniya, stated on Friday.
According to her, the MOU was signed when Audu led a Nigerian delegation to Moscow from September 14 to 21, 2024.
The Ajaokuta Integrated Steel Complex, conceived in 1979, was developed to establish a metallurgical process plant alongside an engineering complex and various auxiliary facilities.
The facility, which remained moribund for decades, is yet to produce a single sheet of steel due to corruption and legal bottlenecks.
The complex is meant to generate important upstream and downstream industrial and economic activities that are critical to the diversification of the economy into an industrial one.
But since assuming office, the minister assured Nigerians that the steel company will begin production and end the import of steel.
To achieve this, Messrs TPE experts visited the steel plant and the iron ore mining site at Itakpe for preliminary inspections in August, leading to the invitation for the MoU’s signing.
Novostal M and Proforce Manufacturing Limited — described as members of Tyazhpromexport’s consortium — were also involved in the MoU.
According to the statement, the Nigerian delegation also inspected the facilities of Messrs Novostal M, located in Balakovo in the Saratov region of Russia.
Speaking on the development, Audu said the deal is a bold step towards creating a sustainable base for the industrialisation of Nigeria’s economy.
He said, “The revival of the steel sector will also reduce importation of steel products into Nigeria, which is estimated at over $4 billion annually and will help save scarce foreign exchange.”
In his remarks, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Chris Isokpunwu, said the Nigerian government is committed to revamping the Ajaokuta steel plant and NIOMCO.
Also speaking, the Russian consortium pledged to meet the expectations of the MoU with the Nigerian government.
The statement noted, “The President of Metallurgical Holding, “Novostal – M” Demchenko Ivan Ivanovich assured the delegation of their readiness to submit a detailed proposal for the project after the comprehensive audit of the plant.”
In his address, the general director of Messrs TPE, Egorov Anatolevich and group managing director of Proforce Manufacturing, Adetokunbo Ogundeyin assured the Nigerian team of their dedication to the project due to its critical role in the overall economic development of the West African nation.
They said the full implementation of the MoU would facilitate the revival of the plant and NIOMCO and could create over 500,000 direct and indirect jobs for Nigerians.
According to the duo, it would also increase the size of the economy by billions of dollars, thus contributing immensely to President Bola Tinubu’s desire to grow the economy to over $1tn by 2030.
The executives, however, asked for the provision of an enabling environment by the Nigerian government.
“The parties expressed their optimism that the full implementation of the MoU will facilitate the revival of both ASCL and NIOMCO and could create over 500,000 direct and indirect jobs for Nigerians and increase the size of the economy by billions of dollars thus contributing immensely to President Tinubu’s desire to grow the economy to over $1tn by 2030.”
On this trip, the steel minister was joined by Isokpunwu; the Sole Administrator of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, Sumaila Abdul-Akaba; the acting Sole Administrator, NIOMCO, Loto Isinmidun; among others.
