Nigeria, Russian consortium in talks to revive Ajaokuta Steel

The Nigerian Government is in talks with a Russian consortium to revive the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL).

President Bola Tinubu’s aide on media, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed this on Friday in a statement.

“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,” Onanuga said.

“The Minister met with the consortium on Thursday in Abuja.

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“The consortium is made up of teams from Russia’s TPE/Rostec, Novostal, and Nigeria’s Proforce.”

Onanuga added that Audu said following the meeting, he intends to visit Moscow, the capital of Russia on a formal invitation from TPE and other consortium partners.

Audu will engage in further discussions to secure funding to the tune of at least $2 billion required for the revival of the entire steel plant.

Onanuga said the General Director of TPE and leader of the consortium, Sergei Egorov, was excited about the partnership.

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Egorov commended the minister for the steps he has taken so far in putting together the consortium for the resuscitation of the steel plant, which has been moribund for years.

Onanuga stated that Egorov and his team of technical experts had earlier gone on a tour of the steel complex a few days earlier.

Egorov noted that the plant was still in a state of possible resuscitation, indicating their interest in putting together a business case for the government.