The non functional\u00a0 Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL) is costing the country more than N1 billion annually in pensions, salaries, taxes, and administrative costs.<\/p>\n
Prof. Linus Asuquo, Director-General (D-G) of the National Metallurgical Development Centre, Jos, stated this in his presentation at a panel discussion at the maiden edition of the National Steel Summit on Thursday in Abuja.<\/p>\n
The discussion was titled \u201cDissecting the Current Policy Framework: Identifying Gaps and Building a Robust Institutional Regulation\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Tide source recalls that, according to a 2024 report by BudgIT\u2019s accountability platform,\u00a0 Ajaokuta\u2019s financial burden has continued to grow, with about ?1.11 billion spent in the past two years.<\/p>\n
The D-G listed the challenges of the steel company to include a huge financial burden, mismanagement, corruption, and a disconnected value chain infrastructure.<\/p>\n
According to him, Nigeria has invested over eight billion U.S. dollars in the Ajaokuta project over a period of more than 40 years.<\/p>\n
He said that persistent mismanagement and policy failures derailed the project, as funds were misappropriated and concessionaire deals failed, citing the Japanese Kob Steel and India-based Global Steel Holdings Limited (GSHL) as examples.<\/p>\n
Asuquo explained that the ASCL was burdened with a disconnected value chain infrastructure, as the iron ore mines at the National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) in Itakpe, Kogi, remained non-operational.<\/p>\n
\u201cRail line for transporting ore from Itakpe to Ajaokuta was delayed, vandalised, it was only completed and inaugurated in 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cObsolete technology and degraded equipment because most of the installed machinery has degraded over decades and the plant lacks modern energy efficient steel making technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also noted that local community displacement remains unresolved as 13 villages were displaced when the plant was built.<\/p>\n
According to Prof. Asuquo, the way forward is to rebuild the integrated supply chain and adopt modern mini-mill technologies.<\/p>\n
He recommended shifting from large-scale blast furnaces to compact strip production (CSP), a cheaper, more energy-efficient technology that can be built and made operational more quickly.<\/p>\n
Other recommendations he made included adopting private sector concessions, which entailed a complete shift from government management to strategic private investors with proven expertise.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way forward includes-manufacturing and pulsed revival of the plant, community and civil society engagement through (ESIA) Environmental and Social Impact Assessment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt (ASCL) can be used as an industrial park and free trade zone,\u201c he said.<\/p>\n
He noted that Nigeria\u2019s key legacy steel assets were mostly underutilised and equipped with obsolete machinery, stating that revitalising them required policy and institutional reforms alongside strategic public-private partnerships.<\/p>\n
The D-G listed other measures to include infrastructure and energy improvements; research, development and innovation; human capital development; raw materials exploration and processing; and sustainable financing mechanisms.<\/p>\n
\u201cRevitalising Nigeria\u2019s legacy steel assets is a national imperative. With political will, coherent policies, private sector collaboration, and sustained investment, the steel sector can become a key driver of industrialisation and economic transformation,\u201c he said.<\/p>\n
The theme of the summit is\u00a0 Rebuilding and Consolidating Nigeria\u2019s Steel Industry: Collaborative Action for Sustainable Growth and Global Competitiveness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The non functional\u00a0 Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL) is costing the country more than N1 billion annually in pensions, salaries, taxes, and administrative costs. Prof. Linus Asuquo, Director-General (D-G) of the National Metallurgical Development Centre, Jos, stated this in his presentation at a panel discussion at the maiden edition of the National Steel Summit on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-346757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=346757"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":346762,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346757\/revisions\/346762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=346757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=346757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=346757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}