Nigeria secures deal with Russian company to revamp Ajaokuta Steel Plant

The Federal Government of Nigeria has secured a deal 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, NIOMCO.

The Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Audu, signed the Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the Nigerian government 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.

Speaking on the development, Audu said the deal is requisite to the industrialisation of Nigeria’s economy.

According to him, the revival of the sector will save Nigeria an estimated $4 billion annually from importation.

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.

Accordingly, the company said the deal 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 $1 trillion by 2030.