A Chinese company, Inner Galaxy Steel Company Limited, is set to invest about $300 million to establish a steel plant for the production of specialised steel products in Ogun State.

The Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Audu, made this known in a statement issued by the ministry’s Head of Information and Public Relations Unit, Salamatu Jibaniya, on Thursday, October 17, 2024.

Audu said the move aligned with the economic diversification policy of President Bola Tinubu’s administration under the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’.

He said the move also demonstrated the company’s confidence in Tinubu’s leadership to drive industrialization and transform the country’s prospects through the steel sector.

The minister assured the company of the federal government’s support in creating an enabling environment and providing other fiscal incentives to facilitate their sustainable operation in Nigeria.

Audu stated that the ministry will review the proposal of the company as well as involve relevant government authorities for concessionary benefits within the current operational framework.

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Audu noted that the move would also facilitate the proposed foreign direct investment.

The president of the Chinese company, Li Shuang, had visited the minister in his office to seek the ministry’s cooperation for a $300 million investment for the establishment of a new steel plant in Nigeria.

Shuang said the plant would be for the production of specialised steel products like plates, angles, beams, and stainless products, among others.

He added that the investment would help to increase the steel production output of the country, reduce Nigeria’s reliance on imported specialised steel products, and conserve scarce foreign exchange with attendant employment generation opportunities.

This, he said, includes 10,000 both direct and indirect employments, along with other multiplier effects in the economy.

Shuang said the company has been operating in Nigeria for more than twenty years, with current investments in steel production in excess of $1 billion.

The Star