In a major move to boost Nigeria’s steel industry, Chart & Capstone Integrated Ltd and China’s Sinomach-HE have signed a financial and technical cooperation agreement for the development of a Steel Production Plant in Nigeria, operating in Kogi and Delta States valued at $2.5billion
The signing ceremony took place on April 14 at Sinomach’s headquarters in Deyang, Sichuan Province, China.
Chief Immanuel Abel Edijala, Chairman/CEO of Chart & Capstone, and Lou Xiangdong, Chief of Sinomach-HE’s Chengdu Representative Office, signed the agreement.
The event was witnessed by the Director General of the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership, Joseph Tegbe, and Dr. Ilesanmi Abiodun Bakare, Acting Consul General of Nigeria in Shanghai.
The project aims to process Nigeria’s iron ore into finished steel products locally, reducing the country’s dependence on imports and supporting industrial growth. Financial close and groundbreaking is projected for the fourth quarter of 2025, with equipment installation starting in early 2026.
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The partnership reflects growing economic cooperation between Nigeria and China and is expected to create thousands of jobs, drive infrastructure development, and promote long-term economic advancement in Nigeria.
In a related development, experts and policy makers have stated that the Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2025 has placed the country as a major player in the 4th Industrial Revolution.
This was at the recent ‘Digital Asset Markets Strategy Masterclass Series’ held recently in Lagos, where deliberations were held on the landmark legislation signed into law in March 2025, by the Federal Government in March 2025, which empowers the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to oversee digital assets, virtual asset service providers (VASPs), and tokenised securities, bringing clarity to a space that has operated in a legal grey area for years.
Speaking at the event, the Director-General of the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership (NCSP) Joseph Tegbe, noted the importance of leveraging Chinese technology, particularly in the digital asset market and knowledge transfer.
He assured that the NCSP is dedicated to supporting the globalisation of Nigeria’s capital market. He outlined the impact of the digital RMB, explaining how Nigeria can leverage and benefit from it.
Tegbe revealed that Nigeria has received over $30 billion in investment commitments and 300 expressions of interest from different Chinese companies within the last five months and will soon sign a pact on ‘Digital RMB’ with China to enable a direct conversion of Naira to Chinese Yuan, thereby reducing the country’s dependency on the Dollar.
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This is in furtherance to the transition of Nigeria’s relationship with China from a trade relationship to a mutually-beneficial development partnership. He concluded by emphasising the objectives of the Nigerian-China Strategic Partnership to drive infrastructure development, scale up investments from China, strengthen Nigerian-China trade and economic relations, promote knowledge and economic transparency, and also advance cultural exchanges between the two nations.
Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, revealed that the state was set to monetise idle assets and raise a green bond to fund infrastructural development within the state which will make them the first sub-national to do so. Represented by the Commissioner of Finance, Abayomi Oluyomi, Sanwoolu added that Lagos state is developing a securitisation policy to monetise and liquefy its idle assets to finance the state’s infrastructure needs.
In his address, the Masterclass Convener, Dr Nicholas Okoye noted that the digital transformation driving the fourth industrial revolution has touched every industry and is projected to create monumental fortunes for wealth-conscious investors, institutions, Nations, and sub-nationals.
Okoye, a globally-acclaimed Investment Advisor stated that “the most strategic ecosystem of this digital transformation has got to be Digital Asset Markets, which includes investment in cryptocurrencies as well as the tokenisation (digitisation) of traditional asset classes. The proposed full adoption of ‘Digital Asset Markets’ in Nigeria’s capital markets and subsequently across Africa is going to be a game changer for wealth creation and economic growth sustainability. In addition, it will completely redefine the future of African finance, investment and capital market industries.”
Okoye concluded that the digital assets provide a golden opportunity for Africans to create wealth for all her people, regardless of their vocation and regardless of wherever on the planet they may live. The Digital asset markets will provide, for the first time in Nigeria and Africa’s history, a rare and unique opportunity for a true measure and a true reflection of Nigeria’s and subsequently Africa’s entire wealth position.
The Nation
