Strategic pacts with India, Russia, China unlock $1bn+ investments as Ajaokuta audit advances, private mills expand after decades of neglect
By Danjuma Amodu
Nigeria’s steel sector is recording measurable gains under the Minister of Steel Development, Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu, following a series of insightful deals and private-sector partnerships projected to create 500,000 jobs and anchor President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s $1 trillion GDP target by 2030.
The latest came in New Delhi on 16 April 2026, where Audu met India’s Minister of Steel, H. D. Kumaraswamy, days after signing a $1 billion Memorandum of Understanding with Kolkata-based Rashmi Metaliks Group. The three-year pact covers technical capacity building, metals quality assurance, and scrap aggregation systems to strengthen Nigeria’s emerging steel industry.
Kumaraswamy described India’s steel industry as the world’s second largest after China – as a “reliable partner,” citing Rashmi Group’s capacity to deliver value in a conducive environment. Audu said Nigeria’s economic drive rests on “deliberate efforts to deploy innovative, private sector–oriented leadership to reposition the steel sector.”
REAWAKENING AJAOKUTA
The India pact builds on earlier progress at Ajaokuta Steel Company, idle for more than 40 years. In September 2024, the Ministry signed an MoU with the plant’s original builders, TPE and consortium, in Moscow to audit and revive the complex. Procurement for the technical audit firm is complete and plant-wide auditing began before the end of 2024. With Russia-Ukraine complications, the Ministry is engaging China as a strategic financing partner.
PRIVATE CAPITAL RETURNS
Alongside public assets, Audu has facilitated major private investments that are reshaping the sector. NNPCL and partners are developing five mini-LNG plants worth $500 million within Ajaokuta Steel territory. Inner Galaxy Group’s $400 million Stellar Steel Plant in Ogun State is slated for completion in April 2026.
Orbit Galvanized Steel Plant, commissioned in Lagos on 22 April 2025, has $100 million annual turnover capacity and produces telecom towers for local use and export. African Foundries Limited is operating a $600 million iron ore mine in Kaduna and a new galvanized plant, with exports now reaching Senegal, Mali and Morocco. Combined, new and existing plants have lifted Nigeria’s fabricated tower capacity to about 200,000 metric tonnes annually.
DEFENCE AND POLICY FRAMEWORK
The Ministry signed an MoU with the Ministry of Defence and DICON to manufacture rifles, vests, helmets and bullets at Ajaokuta, positioning the complex within a wider military-industrial complex.
A 10-year in-house roadmap now guides sector revival, while the Metallurgical Industry Bill has passed second reading in the House of Representatives. A National Steel Summit set targets of 10 million metric tonnes of steel annually and 500,000 direct and indirect jobs. Efforts are also underway to re-operate the Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria, ALSCON, and to support Premium Mines and Steel Limited in restoring Delta Steel to optimal production.
RENEWED HOPE AT THE GRASSROOTS
In line with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to improve living standards and people’s well-being, Audu has extended interventions to Kogi East. The “Light Up Kogi East” initiative is installing 80-watt and 60-watt solar street lights across communities, enhancing security and extending market hours for traders.
The Minister also facilitated N50,000 Conditional Presidential Grants for 10,000 Kogi indigene, N500 million total, to support small and micro businesses. In education, 1,000 JAMB forms were purchased for indigent Kogi students for the 2025 academic year. To cushion hardship, 10,000 bags of rice, fertilisers, groundnut oil and salt were distributed across Kogi’s three senatorial districts.
BROADER VIEW
Though much of the work remains technical and outside daily headlines, officials say the steel sector is undergoing measurable improvement after decades of abandonment. With insightful international deals, rising private capital, and grassroots intervention tied to the Renewed Hope Agenda, the foundation is being laid for the steel industry to blossom for Nigeria’s industrial base.
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Danjuma Amodu is a Journalist and Public Affairs Analyst based in Abuja. He writes on Governance, Politics, Digital Infrastructure, Climate Change and Public Policy..
