Ajaokuta Steel Complex

An interesting report by Sunday Trust on the eponymous moribund industrial complex. We have spent billions of dollars on the project .... billions.

We've got to make Ajaokuta work. Not as a political or patriotic statement, but as a sustainable commercial and industrial powerhouse.

At this point I suppose the Complex will probably never repay the billions (in US dollars) of government funds already spent in its genesis. Indeed, as the article notes, the Complex has billions (in Naira) of additional loans to repay to private-sector banks (which would or should have priority over the federal government in any repayment plan).

Nevertheless, at this point it would just be a depressing waste (in every conceivable way) if we don't get the Complex up and running as originally planned.

There is certainly a market, or should I say potential market for it. Nigeria, West Africa, Central Africa and the Rest Of Africa all suffer SEVERELY from the lack of basic infrastructure, which will require prodigious amounts of iron and steel to remedy.

Then again, the issues that have contributed to the continuing lack of infrastructure as late as the 21st century have also contributed to keeping Ajaokuta Steel Complex moribund.

It is sad.