A local steel maker, African Industries Group, has noted that Nigeria can potentially save about $650m annually if all the steel companies produce at 100 per cent capacity.

The Group Executive Director, African Industries Group, Uche Iwuamadi, stated this during a stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos on Wednesday.

According to Iwuamadi, steel is the backbone of the economy and an indicator of economic growth, adding that Nigeria has no business importing finished iron rods or steel.

He said the total investment of the firm in the sector was above $1.1bn and over $650m was being saved by its export activities.

He said, “We are here to update our stakeholders, partners, Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government about our manufacturing activities in the country. We have been in Nigeria since 1941. For the first time in the history of Nigeria, we are now exporting finished made-in-Nigeria steel to other countries in Africa.”

According to him, the firm produces over one million metric tonnes of steel per annum, representing 33 per cent of the steel consumed in Nigeria, adding that it produces over 55 per cent of the iron rods consumed in the country.

Iwuamadi listed challenges to the business to include power and logistics.

The firm, according to him, generates 115 megawatts of electricity using natural gas and sells the surplus electricity via the national grid.

On logistics, the group executive director disclosed that the firm spent $65/MT on freight from Nigeria to Ghana, an amount higher than the $40/MT charged on freight from Ukraine to Ghana.

He said however that the group that was in the process of setting up a large agricultural processing facility in the North employed 8,000 Nigerians directly and 100,000 indirectly in its industries located in Agbara, Ogiju, Ikorodu and Port Harcourt.

“The quality of steel we produce is at par with the steel products from Ukraine, if not better,” he concluded.

On his part, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Kayode Fayemi, who was represented by the Director of Steel and Non-Ferrous Metal, Ime Ekri, highlighted key initiatives set up by the Federal Government to drive steel production in the country.

He added that the initiatives were well encapsulated in the Nigeria’s Industrial Revolution Plan aimed at developing the nation’s steel sector.

Fayemi said, “The steel industry is our key target and African industries are key to achieving sustainable growth in this sector. We will continue to introduce policies aimed at encouraging local production.”

The President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Frank Jacobs, commended the company for achieving this feat despite the harsh business environment for manufacturing in Nigeria.

Source- The Punch