The Vice President,
Prof Yemi Osinbajo, has called for increased private investment in the steel
and solid minerals sector to shore up Nigeria’s manufacturing base and save the
country $4.5 billion spent on steel importation annually.
Prof Osinbajo said
6.5 million metric tonnes production capacity per annum from 18 out of 30
existing steel rolling mills fall far short of the country’s requirements and
is yet to meet global standards.
He said the Federal
Government is working on the appropriate funding as well as provision of
critical infrastructure and better business environment to encourage local and
foreign investors.
Vice President
Osinbajo said about 70 percent of Nigeria’s known iron ore deposits were yet to
be proven to be viable and the government was considering options, which
included working with private companies, “for certifying existing deposits”.
“We must be extremely
ambitious in our industrialisation efforts,” Osinbajo said during a visit to a
steel plant in Ilorin, Kwara State.
He added that Nigeria
had about 2 billion metric tonnes of known iron ore reserves in total.
The Vice President
also said steel played an important role in the government’s economic plan and
that the administration wanted Nigeria to become “a net exporter of steel
within the shortest possible time”.
Meanwhile, indigenous
investors are asking for a minimum of 1 trillion naira intervention fund for
steel development and solid minerals processing to empower local industries.
The government, led
by President Muhammadu Buhari, has said it wants to diversify the economy by
boosting agricultural, mineral and other non-energy sectors.
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