Global Steel, which is linked to India’s Mittal family, had between 2004 and 2007 acquired rights to all of Nigeria’s state-owned steel industry through five major concessions and share purchase agreements. The deal also included access to Nigeria’s iron ore reserves and central rail network.
But in 2008, the government of the late Umaru Yar’Adua terminated the contracts. In the same year, Global Steel filed for arbitration with the International Chamber of Commerce, Court of Arbitration in Paris.
Between 2011 and 2020, Global Steel and the Nigerian government made several attempts at settlement but failed.
Nigeria’s attorney general and justice minister, Abubakar Malami, who led the negotiations, said the government had managed to secure a 91% discount on the initial demands of $5.258 billion.
“I pay tribute to President (Muhammadu) Buhari for his dedication to solving this problem and reclaiming a crown jewel of our national industrialization plans rather than leaving the business to the future administration,” he said.
