The Federal Government of Nigeria is now set for the rehabilitation, completion, and subsequent taking off of the Ajaokuta steel plant and the National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO). This is following the Nigerian minister of steel development, Shuaibu Audu sign of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Original builders of Ajaokuta steel plant, Messrs Tyazhpromexport (TPE) recently in Russia.

This going by the official statement recently made by Salamotu Jibaniya, the ministry’s spokesperson on the Memorandum Of Understanding signed Mr. Audu leading the Nigerian delegation to Moscow, Russia and Novostal M and Proforce Manufacturing Limited representing the members of Tyazhpromexport’s consortium.

As part of line up of the visit slated from September 14 to 21, the Nigerian delegation also inspected the facilities of Messrs Novostal M, located in Balakovo in the Saratov region of Russia.

Prior to the visit the Honourable Minister of Steel Development, Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu, has engaged a consortium led by the original developers of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL), Tyamzhpromexport (TPE), to revive the steel plant.

The Honourable Minister, who met with the consortium comprising a team from Russia’s TPE/Rostec, Novostal, and Nigeria’s Proforce in his office on Thursday, 25th April 2024 in Abuja, urged them to put together a blueprint for the revival of the Steel Plant within the shortest possible time.

Subsequently in August, Tyamzhpromexport (TPE), experts visited the steel plant and the iron ore mining site at Itakpe for preliminary inspections, leading to the invitation for the MoU’s signing.

Speaking on the development, Audu said the deal is a bold step towards creating a sustainable base for the industrialisation of Nigeria’s economy. In his remarks, Chris Isokpunwu, permanent secretary of the ministry, 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. Demchenko Ivanovich, president of Novostal M Metallurgical Holding, assured the Nigerian delegation of the company’s readiness to submit a detailed proposal for the project after the comprehensive audit of the plant.

Egorov Anatolevich, general director of Messrs TPE, and Adetokunbo Ogundeyin, group managing director of Proforce Manufacturing, 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 $1 trillion by 2030.

The executives, however, asked for the provision of an enabling environment by the Nigerian government.