Speaking during a tour of steel plant of the African Natural Resources and Mines Limited in Jere in Kaduna State, the minister said there was hope for Nigeria with the stable steel sector as the nation would likely be on the path of industrailisation in the next five years.
She also said the huge investment in steel will attract automobile companies that can produce cars in the country for Nigerians.
She said: “Producing one million metric tons of steel per annum means that Nigeria will really be well on its way to being independent of importing steel into our country and this will attract other investors to the country. “One of the main impediments has been the scarcity of high quality steel but with this project, we are now assured that we can attract the auto industries of the world to come into Nigeria and produce cars for Nigerians as well as for the region”.
“From what I am told and I can immediately see, this is going to make a huge difference. This will be the first company that is producing steel, made in Nigeria, high quality steel, that will be used by our industries and it will help us conserve our foreign exchange and help us fast-track our journey towards industrialisation.