Beginning from 2018, the federal government would no longer allow importation of petroleum products into the country. Olusegun Aganga, minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, declared at a pre-commissioning visit to the Steel Cold Rolling Complex of Kam Industries Limited in Ilorin, Kwara State. He said a minimum of about $14 billion has so far been committed to the petrochemical sector by foreign and local investors like Indorama and Dangote, adding that hopefully by 2017/2018 the country would be self-sufficient and would no longer need to import petroleum products.

He revealed that his ministry is working with the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development on a joint memorandum to the Federal Executive Council on policies and measures that would help to develop the steel sector. “We have close to at least two million metric tonnes of reserve of iron ore; we are the twelfth largest in the world and the second largest in Africa and all these steel you see here today, they come from iron ore. So we have no business importing steel into the country,” Aganga said.

According to him, the federal government would create an industrial zone around Kamwire Industries, to accommodate other industries around the. “We will make sure that for those industrial zones, you get all you need; you will get electricity, water supply and all the things you’ll need to function and be competitive,” said Aganga.