…Targets 10m Tonnes Output, ₦Trillions in New Investments by 2030
By Joy Odor, Abuja
Nigeria’s long-stalled dream of industrial self-reliance roared back to life in Abuja as the Minister of Steel Development, Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu, declared that the time for excuses is over and the era of Nigeria’s steel rebirth has begun.
Speaking at the maiden Nigeria Steel Forum, held on the sidelines of the 10th Nigeria Mining Week, the Minister unveiled a sweeping blueprint to revive Nigeria’s steel and metal industry, transform it into a regional production hub, and anchor President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope industrial agenda.
“The steel sector is the backbone of industrialisation,” Audu declared. “We cannot continue to depend on imports while sitting on vast iron ore wealth. The only way forward is synergy government, investors, and industry must move as one.”
Prince Audu described the Forum as a defining moment in Nigeria’s journey toward steel self-sufficiency, noting with concern that just four African countries Egypt, South Africa, Algeria, and Morocco produced 88% of Africa’s steel output in 2023, leaving resource-rich Nigeria behind.
He pledged that under Tinubu’s leadership, Nigeria will close that gap through coordinated policy reforms, infrastructure investment, and private-sector-driven growth targeting 10 million tonnes of crude steel per year by 2030 and half a million new jobs.
“The Renewed Hope administration is determined to create an enabling environment for investors through fiscal incentives, legal reforms, and strong public-private partnerships,” Audu said. “Our goal is to make Nigeria a regional steel powerhouse.”
The Minister reaffirmed plans to resurrect the Ajaokuta Steel Company and revitalise NIOMCO as part of a broader industrial revival strategy that includes a national steel policy and skills development initiatives across the value chain.
Permanent Secretary Dr. Chris Isokpunwu hailed the Forum as a milestone in Nigeria’s industrial rebirth, saying it builds on the momentum of the Maiden National Steel Summit, which laid out a clear roadmap for reform and partnership.
“This is not just another policy talk shop,” Isokpunwu said. “We are building the foundation for action real, measurable, private-sector-driven investment in Nigeria’s steel future.”
Similarly, Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, commended Audu’s proactive leadership in strengthening institutional and policy frameworks.
He warned that shrinking global public financing worsened by COVID-19, climate crises, and conflicts demands that Nigeria must leverage private capital and policy clarity to drive growth in capital-intensive sectors like steel.
“What the Minister is doing is repositioning steel as the engine of Nigeria’s economic revival,” Yabo said. “His bold reforms are already building the confidence investors need.”
The Forum brought together heads of key agencies, development partners, and private-sector leaders, all pledging support for the Minister’s drive to restore the steel sector to its rightful place as the bedrock of national development.
In what many participants described as the “turning point Nigeria has waited decades for”, the Steel Ministry’s new vision signals a coordinated, government-backed, and investor-led march toward industrial transformation.
“Nigeria’s steel story is no longer one of failure,” one participant remarked. “It’s now one of resurgence, resolve, and rebirth.”
