Dangote [PHOTO CREDIT: Dangote Group on X]

Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has cast doubt on the future of Nigeria’s biggest steel project, Ajaokuta Steel Company, saying the plant is unlikely ever to function as intended.

In a video shared on TVC’s X handle on Tuesday, the president and chief executive of Dangote Group stressed the importance of a vibrant steel industry for national development but maintained that Ajaokuta’s outdated technology and chronic challenges make its revival “totally impossible.”

“There is no nation that you can build without a steel industry and honestly within us here, Ajaokuta will not work. We can keep deceiving ourselves and keep being passionate about it, but it’s not possible,” Mr Dangote said.

He likened attempts to revive Ajaokuta to trying to bring back obsolete cars from decades ago:

“If you remember those vehicles we used to produce from Volkswagen (Igala), if you bring Igala now, would you now compare it to the current Kia? No. Things have changed.”

Mr Dangote urged Nigeria to adapt to the changing global environment, noting that sticking to outdated ideas could doom development efforts.

“When you carry something like Ajaokuta, it’s like you going to the graveyard to bring a dead person or you go to the hospital to bring somebody who is on the dying bed to come and run 100 metres. It’s totally impossible,” he added.

Ajaokuta Steel’s Chequered History

The Ajaokuta Steel Company, located in Kogi State, was built between 1979 and the mid-1990s but was never completed. For over two decades, it has remained largely moribund despite successive governments pledging to revive it.

In September 2022, Nigeria agreed to pay $496 million to settle a long-running dispute with an Indian firm after revoking a concession agreement for the steel plant in 2008. By December 2022, 11 companies had indicated interest in taking over Ajaokuta on a concession basis, including three Russian firms.

Upon assuming office in August 2023, Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Audu, promised to aggressively pursue the completion of the project and enact enabling legislation to regulate the steel sector. In September 2023, the government signed an agreement with a Russian consortium to rehabilitate and operate the plant and the nearby National Iron Ore Mining Company.