UK Steel for Nigerian ports upgrade exposes Ajaokuta’s lost decades

The Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), Ajaokuta branch, has said that the giant Steel Project in the area has slept for too long and that it was high time they woke her up from its slumber.

The £746 million ($997 million) funding pact sealed on March 19 during President Bola Tinubu’s London visit on 19 March 2026 between UK Export Finance (UKEF) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) is epochal for West African maritime infrastructure. It seeks to renovate the decrepit Apapa and TinCan Island ports.

For British Steel, the contract to supply 120,000 tonnes of steel billets valued at £70 million represents the company’s largest export order wrought by UKEF. For Nigeria, it bodes a sobering picture. A multibillion-naira industrial asset is wasting while another country corners the jobs and earnings that should have been domestic.

Funded for four decades without production: The Ajaokuta debacle

Ajaokuta Steel Company was meant to be the backbone of Nigeria’s industrialisation, but it has instead yielded a lamentable paradox. Decades of public funds have been sunk into the largely idle project.

For instance, the 2026 budget allocated N6.5 billion to the moribund company. N6.04 billion was reserved for personnel costs. A meagre N410 million was earmarked for capital expenditure, while less than seven per cent of the company’s allocation is for productive assets.

Ajaokuta was built to create about 3,000 direct jobs; up to 10,000 workers were to be employed upon full commissioning potentially; 500,000 jobs nationwide were anticipated from upstream and downstream industries. Ironically, the company continues as a payroll institution, with N468.9 million for regular allowances and N479.4 million for employer pension contributions in the 2026 budget. And all these for zero steel output.

Varied potentials and the cost of inaction

NPA revenue reached N894.86 billion in 2024; N1.28 trillion was targeted in 2025. Experts project that maritime economy could add $296 billion, with efficient ports unlocking N70 trillion maritime revenue yearly, creating thousands of jobs and capturing the AfCFTA hub status.

Nigeria currently produces just about 1.2 million metric tonnes of steel annually. These are mostly from recycled scrap. With domestic estimated at 10 million metric tonnes, the gap is filled by imports. This weakens the Naira and undermines local industries that should have grown around a functional steel value chain.

A cue from local content successes: The path forward

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board has proved that thoughtful local content policies can transform industries. Indigenous Nigerian firms now contribute 15 per cent of oil production and 60 per cent of domestic gas supply, while engineering and fabrication companies execute complex projects previously handled by foreign multinationals.

Thus, Nigeria must revive Ajaokuta immediately to seize the next opportunity. The $2 billion Chinese production-sharing deal to restart the 1.3MT rolling mill project should be fast-tracked. Local-content mandates in all infrastructure contracts should be enforced, while budgets should shift from salaries to genuine PPP rehabilitation. Only through these would the ports drive genuine growth.