The Minister of Steel Development, Prince Shuaibu Audu, Thursday, disclosed that Nigeria and China are to build a new steel company in Nigeria.
This was contained in a statement signed by Head, Press and Public Relations Department, Salamatu Jibaniya, and made available to Vanguard.
According to the statement, the move was on the heels of the visit led by Audu along with the Minister of Defence, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru, and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Steel Development, Dr. Mary A. Ogbe in their tour of Luan Steel Holding Group in Hefei and Guangzhou Regions of China.
He explained that the trip to China is one of the steps being taken to realise the goals of reviving the steel industry in Nigeria according to President Bola Tinubu's 'Renewed Hope' Agenda.
He also made it known that work has commenced to create an operational steel industry that would attract billions of dollars through foreign direct investments into the country, open up the nation's economy, and create thousands of job opportunities, which is the core of the 'Renewed Hope' agenda.
He said: "We had very meaningful discussions with the Chairman of Luan Steel Holding Group, Mr Wang Jianbing, the Chief Executive Officer of the Company, Mr Xiao Weizhan, and other senior executives of the Luan Steel Holding Group.
"Like several other international and local investors, Luan Steel Holding Group has indicated interest in setting up a new Steel Plant in Nigeria, as well as handling a component of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant for building military hardware in Nigeria.
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"The Minister of Defence and I led this delegation, which includes the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Steel Development, Dr Mary Ogbe, Sole Administrator/Managing Director of Ajaokuta Steel Company, Mr Sumaila Abdul-Akaba, to enable us to have a first-hand look at the Luan steel plants before arriving at a decision."
Meanwhile, he also expressed optimism that, "With all the commitments on the ground, we are optimistic that before the end of President Tinubu's administration, we will commence commercial Steel Production in some of the government-owned entities in Nigeria."
In a related development, the Minister said Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, ASCL, will soon commence manufacturing of military hardware, adding that, this would help in the fight against insecurity.
"Building military hardware in Ajaokuta Steel Plant is also timely, considering that Nigeria is faced with security challenges", he added.
