Nigeria Will Pay $496 Million To Resolve Indian Steel Factory Claims Over Botched Steel Agreements

The presidency said on Saturday that Nigeria has agreed to pay $496 million to resolve a multibillion-dollar claim from Global Steel Holdings Ltd following the termination of a contract to improve the country’s steel factories.

Global Steel, which is tied to India’s Mittal family, obtained rights to Nigeria’s entire state steel sector between 2004 and 2007 through five significant concessions and share purchase contracts. Access to Nigeria’s iron ore reserves and the core railway network were also included in the agreement.

However, the contracts were canceled in 2008 by the late Umaru Yar’Adua’s government. The same year, Global Steel sought arbitration in the International Chamber of Commerce’s Court of Arbitration in Paris.

Between 2011 and 2020, Global Steel and the Nigerian government attempted but failed to reach an agreement.

Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who spearheaded the discussions, stated that the government was able to obtain a 91% reduction in the original claims of $5.258 billion.

“I pay tribute to President (Muhammadu) Buhari for his commitment to addressing this situation and reclaiming a crown gem of our national industrialisation aspirations rather than leaving it to the next administration to deal with,” he said.