Nigeria has secured a landmark $2.5 billion investment in its steel industry following a new partnership between Chart & Capstone Integrated Ltd and China’s Sinomach-HE.
The agreement, signed on April 14 at Sinomach’s headquarters in Deyang, Sichuan Province, will lead to the development of a major steel production plant spread across Kogi and Delta States.
Chief Immanuel Abel Edijala, Chairman and CEO of Chart & Capstone, signed the deal alongside Lou Xiangdong, Chief of Sinomach-HE’s Chengdu Representative Office.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by Joseph Tegbe, Director General of the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership (NCSP), and Dr. Ilesanmi Abiodun Bakare, Acting Consul General of Nigeria in Shanghai.
The project is designed to process Nigeria’s iron ore into finished steel products locally, a move expected to cut down heavy reliance on steel imports and accelerate the country’s industrial growth.
Financial close and groundbreaking for the project are scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2025, with equipment installation targeted for early 2026.
The partnership reflects deepening economic ties between Nigeria and China, and is expected to create thousands of jobs, drive infrastructure development, and support long-term economic growth.
At a related event in Lagos, industry leaders at the ‘Digital Asset Markets Strategy Masterclass Series’ praised the newly signed Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2025 as a milestone for Nigeria’s digital finance sector.
The ISA, signed into law in March 2025, grants the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) the authority to regulate digital assets, virtual asset service providers (VASPs), and tokenised securities, finally bringing much-needed clarity to the digital finance space.
Speaking at the event, NCSP Director-General Joseph Tegbe emphasized the importance of leveraging Chinese technology and financial expertise.
Tegbe revealed that Nigeria has secured over $30 billion in investment commitments and 300 expressions of interest from Chinese companies in just the past five months.
He also announced that Nigeria is preparing to sign an agreement with China that would enable direct currency conversion between the Naira and the Chinese Yuan, a move aimed at reducing Nigeria’s dependency on the US Dollar.
“Our goal at the NCSP is to drive infrastructure development, attract greater Chinese investment, strengthen trade ties, and promote cultural exchanges,” Tegbe stated.
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented at the event by the Commissioner for Finance, Abayomi Oluyomi, announced Lagos’ plans to become the first sub-national entity in Nigeria to issue a green bond to finance infrastructure projects.
Oluyomi also disclosed that the state is developing a securitisation policy to monetise idle assets and boost liquidity for its development needs.
Masterclass Convener and global investment advisor Dr. Nicholas Okoye emphasized the role of digital asset markets, including cryptocurrencies and the tokenisation of traditional asset classes, in shaping Africa’s economic future.
Dr. Okoye said, “The full adoption of digital asset markets will redefine the future of finance, investment, and capital markets across Nigeria and Africa.”
He concluded, “Digital asset markets offer a rare opportunity for Africans everywhere to share in wealth creation, providing for the first time a true measure of Nigeria’s and Africa’s total wealth.”
