The federal government through the minister of steel development, Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu, who just led a delegation to Russia from September 14, 2024 on a working visit, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the original builders of Ajaokuta Steel Plant, Messrs TPE and members of their consortium namely, Novostal M and Proforce Manufacturing Limited for the rehabilitation, completion and operation of Ajaokuta Steel Plant (ASP) and National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) in Kogi state.
The call was accepted by the Russian Federation when a consortium led by Messrs TPE visited the steel plant in Ajaokuta and the iron ore mining site at Itakpe in August, 2024 for preliminary inspections leading to the invitation for the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding.
Prince Shuaibu who is driving Mr President’s mandate for the revitalisation, completion and operation of ASP and NIOMCO said this is a bold step towards creating a sustainable base for the industrialisation drive of the economy, noting that the revival of the steel sector would also reduce importation of steel products into Nigeria which is estimated at over $4billion annually and ultimately help save scarce foreign exchange.
During the visit, the Nigerian delegation met with the deputy minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Mr Alexey V. Gruzdev and the consortium led by TPE assured the Nigerian delegation of the readiness of the consortium to meet the expectations of the MoU with the Nigerian government.
In a statement by Salamatu F. Jibaniya, head press & public relations department of the ministry, “The Nigerian delegation also inspected the facilities of Messrs Novostal M located in Balakovo in the Saratov region. The plant which was in full operation during the visit has an electric arc furnace capacity of 1.2Million metric tonnes of steel products per annum with a staff strength of 3,900 workers.
“The team also inspected the private port facility of the company where they received different raw materials for their operations.”
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.
The general director of Messrs TPE, Mr Egorov Sergei Anatolevich and the group managing director of Proforce Manufacturing Limited, Mr Adetokunbo Ogundeyin assured the Nigerian delegation of their commitment to the project because of its critical role in the overall economic development of Nigeria and requested for the provision of an enabling environment.
The parties expressed their optimism that the full implementation of the MoU will facilitate the revival of both companies which 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 $1trillion by 2030.
The minister was accompanied on the trip by the permanent secretary of the ministry, Dr Chris Osa Isokpunwu, the sole administrator of ASCL, Engr Sumaila Abdul-Akaba, the acting sole administrator of NIOMCO, Engr Loto Festus Isinmidun, the acting director of steel & non-ferrous metals department, Umar Adamu Tsoho and his technical adviser, Anekwe Patrick Chinwuba.