Nigeria will become steel powerhouse by 2030 – Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu has pledged that Nigeria will become a steel powerhouse by 2030, with an annual production target of 10 million tonnes of liquid steel. Speaking in Abuja on Wednesday, August 13, at the inaugural stakeholders summit on the development of the steel sector, Tinubu, represented by Vice-President Kashim Shettima reaffirmed his administrations determination to position the steel industry as the core of Nigerias industrial growth and economic diversification. He said the creation of the Ministry of Steel Development in 2023 signalled his governments intent to fully extract, process, and commercialise Nigerias mineral resources, with a special focus on revitalising the Ajaokuta Steel Company. We are not here to mourn missed opportunities. We are here to make the future, Tinubu said, highlighting a memorandum of understanding signed with Tyazhpromexport (TPE) and its consortium to rehabilitate and operate both Ajaokuta and the National Iron Ore Mining Company in Itakpe. Proposals from Chinese firms and other partners are also under review, while a technical and financial audit of Ajaokuta is underway to guide investor selection. The president disclosed additional projects, including the construction of five mini-LNG plants worth over $500 million in partnership with NNPC Limited and private sector stakeholders, and an agreement with the Ministry of Defence to produce military hardware at the Ajaokuta Engineering Workshop. Plans are also in motion to establish an industrial park, a free trade zone, and a military-industrial complex in the steel city. In parallel, a $465 million investment proposal has been submitted to revive the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria in Ikot-Abasi, and the management of Delta Steel Company, now Premium Steel and Mines, has committed to restarting operations within 18 months. The government has also attracted a $400 million investment from Stellar Steel, part of the Inner Galaxy Group, to build a new plant in Ewekoro, Ogun State, for producing hot-rolled coils and plates. Tinubu said his administrations steel sector roadmap includes operationalising Ajaokuta within three years, creating over 500,000 jobs, improving infrastructure, reforming regulations, and building local capacity. He called on the private sector to partner with the government in achieving these goals, stressing that the scale of transformation required cannot be delivered by the public sector alone. The post Nigeria will become steel powerhouse by 2030 – Tinubu appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.