Thursday, August 6, 2026

Next Africa: A steel elephant

Nigeria’s Ajaokuta factory hasn’t worked since 1979 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌
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Welcome to Next Africa, a daily newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it’s headed. Sign up here. In today’s edition:

  • Nigeria will try again to get its Ajaokuta steel plant working
  • Eskom is at odds with the government over a planned split
  • A look at what drove the Moroccan migrant rush into Ceuta

Reviving the Dead 

After nearly half a century, Nigeria is trying to fire up a megaproject to produce its first-ever steel.

It’s not the first time anyone has tried to power up the Ajaokuta Steel Company factory, a colossal monument to Soviet-era engineering on the banks of one of West Africa’s most iconic rivers.

All previous attempts failed, draining more than $8 billion from the public purse.

This time, though, officials are convinced they have cracked the puzzle that thwarted those that came before: securing gas supplies from the state-owned oil pipeline.

A sign outside the Ajaokuta plant in 2016.
Photographer: David Malingha/Bloomberg

That’s given impetus to conversations with potential investors, Managing Director Nasir Naeem Abdulsalam told us, adding that American and Chinese firms are interested.

The latest push follows ventures by companies from Japan, India and Russia (twice) to get it started since the structure was built in 1979.

The mill was intended to help Africa’s most populous nation tap its vast iron-ore deposits and to industrialize. Instead, it stands as the poster child of wasteful megaprojects in a long list that includes a wind farm, a giant dam and four refineries.

Getting it to work will require a purpose-built iron-ore plant 50 kilometers away to become operational. Then its blast furnace and steel-making systems will have to be tested. There are questions about how much any potential investor is willing to commit, and how Nigerians will react to dipping again into state coffers.

That makes the odds of success low. Yusuf Ocheja, a former assistant director at the factory, says talk of a revival is “all noise.”

Still, President Bola Tinubu has set a raw-steel production target of 10 million tons by 2030 as he bids to kickstart the economy. Should he manage to get Ajaokuta working, it may be akin to reviving the dead. Nduka Orjinmo

The disused Ajaokuta steel complex.
Photographer: David Malingha/Bloomberg

What Everyone’s Reading 

South Africa should hold off on transferring assets from Eskom to a separate transmission firm until the government addresses risks to the power utility’s finances and lenders, its chairman says in an interview. Mteto Nyati’s warning is at odds with the government’s stance after President Cyril Ramaphosa last week endorsed recommendations to place control of the grid in a standalone entity.

Power lines in the Kwa-Guqa township in northeastern South Africa.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg

Air India named Tewolde Gebremariam as its new CEO amid the Tata Group-owned carrier’s struggles to recover from last year’s deadly plane crash and mounting losses linked to geopolitical tensions. During a decade at the helm, Tewolde led Ethiopian Airlines through a multibillion-dollar expansion that helped transform the regional carrier into Africa’s largest.

Nigeria tightened rules for virtual-asset transactions to crack down on tax evasion and boost income from one of the world’s largest crypto markets. The measure adds to other policies enacted last year to overhaul its tax code to raise more revenue.

Zimbabwe won’t rush to phase out the US dollar and make the ZiG its sole currency until it’s confident inflation is under control and the exchange rate is stable, Secretary for Finance George Guvamatanga says. The government initially set 2030 as its deadline to stop use of US dollars in everyday transactions.

A ZiG banknote at a market in Harare.
Photographer: Cynthia R Matonhodze/Bloomberg

Gabon has become a top performer in emerging sovereign-bond markets, buoyed by expectations that an IMF program will help it avert a debt restructuring. The optimism contrasts with Senegal, where ballooning debt and stalled talks on a loan from the lender have left investors resigned to the possibility of default.

Ghana’s central bank incurred about $1.9 billion of losses in 2025 from its domestic gold-buying program aimed at boosting foreign-exchange reserves. Responsibility for the purchases was formally transferred from the institution to the Ghana Gold Board in July, ending its exposure to the quasi-fiscal operation.

We’re bringing the “Where to Invest” series to Kenya this month. If you would like to attend the event scheduled for Aug. 18 in Nairobi, please reach out to gbell16@bloomberg.net.

Quote of the Week

“Every last one of them will return.”

José Manuel Albares

Spain’s foreign minister

Albares was speaking about thousands of Moroccans who illegally crossed into Ceuta and Melilla.

Last Word

The scenes at the border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta were without precedent. In the final days of July, more than 70,000 people crossed the frontier, most by swimming around a maritime border fence. Nearly 100 died and 50 are missing, Spanish police say. Most migrants returned home and Spain reinforced the frontier with a 500-meter floating barrier. Was it spontaneous? Or was it organized? This essay digs into what caused the deadly rush.

Spanish soldiers guard migrants in Ceuta on Aug. 1.
Photographer: Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images

We’ll be back in your inbox with the next edition tomorrow. Send any feedback to gbell16@bloomberg.net.

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Next Africa: A steel elephant

Nigeria’s Ajaokuta factory hasn’t worked since 1979 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ...