Ajaokuta Steel Mill
Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited popularly known as Ajaokuta Steel Mill is a steel mill in Nigeria, located in Ajaokuta, Kogi State, Nigeria. Built on a site starting in 1979, it is the largest steel mill in Nigeria, and the coke oven and by-products plant are larger than all the refineries in Nigeria combined. However, the project was mismanaged and remains incomplete 40 years later. Three-quarters of the complex have been abandoned, and only the light mills have been put into operation for small-scale fabrication and the production of iron rods. As of 2025, the Nigerian government is trying to engage Chinese partners for a revitalization of the mill.
History
A feasibility study for the production of steel was first awarded to the British, and later undertaken by the Soviet Union under a cooperation agreement with Nigeria. In 1967, Soviet experts recommended prospecting for iron ore in Nigeria, as the known deposits were of poor quality for steelmaking. In 1973, iron ore of the required quality was discovered in Itakpe, Ajabanoko, and Oshokoshoko. The Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited was incorporated in 1979 under President Shehu Shagari who began the project which was 84% completed by the time of his removal from office in 1983. The steel mill reached 98% completion in 1994, with 40 of the 43 plants at the facility having been built.To supply the Ajaokuta Steel Mill with raw materials and connect it with the world market, in 1987, a contract was awarded to construction company Julius Berger for the construction of Nigeria's first standard gauge railway, from the iron mines at Itakpe to the steel mill at Ajaokuta, and later continuing to the Atlantic Ocean at Warri. However, both projects have been mismanaged. The Ajaokuta Steel Mill is still unfinished four decades after construction began.
In 2002, the Nigerian government under Olusegun Obasanjo concessioned the project to Japanese Kobe Steel in an attempt at revitalization, however without much success. In 2004, the project was again transferred, this time to Ispat Steel. The deal was financed by Global Infrastructure Holdings Limited, which is chaired by Indian steel magnate Pramod Mittal. The concession ended in 2008 after the government accused GIHL of asset-stripping. GIHL then sued Nigeria at International Chamber of Commerce. The dispute was initially resolved in 2016, with Nigeria regaining control of the Ajaokuta Steel Mill in exchange for GIHL retaining the Nigerian Iron Ore Mining Company operating at Itakpe. In 2022, the Nigerian government paid $496 million to GSHL to settle the claims.
The Ajaokuta Steel Mill still had not produced a single sheet of steel by December 2017. The light mills were finally put into operation in 2018 for small-scale fabrication and the production of iron rods. However, three-quarters of the plant have been abandoned, including the large-scale equipment and the internal railway.
In 2019, at the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed on a revitalization of the steel mill with Russian support. A taskforce within the Nigerian government was set up with a view to revamping the project with funding from the Afreximbank and the . However, the COVID pandemic delayed and ultimately thwarted these plans.
In January 2024, the Nigerian government announced that it had commenced discussions with Chinese steel company Luan Steel Holding Group with the aim of reviving the Nigerian steel industry, including the production of military hardware at Ajaokuta Steel Mill. By June 2025, the government had also engaged in talks with Chinese firms Fangda Steel, Jingye Group and Baowu subsidiary Sinosteel.