Nigeria Aims to Resuscitate Ajaokuta Steel Mill in 2016 — Dr. Fayemi

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa — Nigeria is aiming to hand over the US$4.5 billion Ajaokuta steel complex to private operators this year as part of a plan to kick start its industrial and mining industries, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Nigerian Minister of Solid Minerals Development, stated.

The Minister explained that construction of Ajaokuta, which lies on the Niger River and was supposed to have an installed capacity of 5 million metric tons of steel a year, began in 1979. Work was delayed by the government’s failure to pay the builders, Russia’s Tyazhpromexport, on schedule. By 2004, when it was taken over by India’s Ispat Industries Ltd., it was yet to produce any steel. Ispat’s concession was revoked in 2008 and Nigeria is yet to resolve all outstanding legal issues.

“Ajaokuta steel mill is one of the major issues I have put on the table,” Dr. Kayode Fayemi stated in an interview in Cape Town on Monday. “Under my watch” it will be revived, he emphasised.

In addition to steel, Fayemi said the government aims to improve the implementation of mining laws, make available better data on the country’s deposits and act to regulate informal mining. Because of the global rout in commodity prices, Fayemi doesn’t expect significant investment soon.

“The sector has been comatose for some time,” he said. “We will be ready for the next boom.”

Initially the focus will be on industrial minerals for domestic consumption, he said. Limestone for cement production, iron ore for steel, bitumen for asphalt, barium for oil drilling and lead and zinc will be focused on, he said.

The country will also try and attract investment into gemstone mining and will improve data on gold deposits in Zamfara state and elsewhere before trying to attract investors in 2017, he said. An attempt will also be made to revive thermal coal production for power generation.