This archive report was first published on 14 August 2019.
Published on August 14, 2019, Nigeria's steel industry is facing a major crisis as authorities weigh the option of shutting down idle steel mills or raising fresh funding to revive them.
Despite significant government investment, steel mills in Ajaokuta, Katsina, and Aladja have remained non-operational, hindering Nigeria's efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in steel production.
One of the most striking examples is the Ajaokuta steel company, which has received a staggering $4.6 billion (approximately KSh473 billion) in funding from Russian aid. However, despite this massive investment, the company has failed to produce a single bar of steel in the past four decades.
The company's administrator has estimated that an additional $400 million (approximately KSh41 billion) is needed to complete the facility, while a team of Nigerian and Ukrainian experts has put the figure at $653 million (approximately KSh67 billion).
The Ajaokuta steel mill's mismanagement woes, coupled with failed attempts to privatize, have left the mill non-operational. Successive governments have conducted audits, with the current Muhammadu Buhari administration sanctioning two audits. Despite this, the government continues to pay salaries and pensions at the steel mills.
According to Abdullahi Halims, chairperson of the House of Representatives' committee on steel, the idle steel mills could begin production in 2023, if the necessary funding is secured.
