The Federal Government of Nigeria has set up the Ajaokuta Presidential Project Implementation Team with the goal of attaining the economic diversification agenda, proposed by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, was made the chairman of the team, while the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, would serve as the alternate chairman.
In his address at the inauguration, the SGF said it was a key desire of the Buhari’s administration to industrialise the country within a diversified economy.
Mustapha also said, it was in the agenda of Buhari’s administration to make Ajaokuta Steel Plant into West Africa’s largest fully integrated steel producer, which would cascade to speeding up the industrialisation in steel-related industries.
He said, “The Ajaokuta Steel plant has languished in economic unproductivity for about four decades, and previous efforts at reviving it had proved abortive. This has resulted in avoidable massive foreign exchange losses at intolerable opportunity cost to the country.
“The pressing need to redress these avoidable challenges has necessitated this presidential intervention at this time. This is further underscored by difficulties being witnessed with present challenges in the global oil industry.”
Mustapha stated that the Ajaokuta Steel Project would “be resuscitated on the basis of a Government-to-Government agreement with funding from the Afrexim bank and the Russian Export Centre”.
