After more than a decade of operations in Nigeria, Aarti Steel, a prominent roofing sheet manufacturer, has reportedly closed shop.
The company’s exit is believed to have added to the growing list of multinational firms leaving the country due to harsh economic conditions.
Sources close to the company hinted that the Ota-based plant had been struggling with production for nearly a year and that severe indebtedness from forex losses, unfavourable economic policies, and depressed local pricing mechanisms forced the company to sell below production costs.
Insiders suggest that two major Nigerian steel companies and several Indian steel firms have shown interest in acquiring the closed plant, potentially saving thousands of jobs along its value chain.
This is even as Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 Presidential candidate, decried the mass exodus of multinational companies from Nigeria.
Peter Obi claimed that the nation has lost N95 trillion in the past five years due to these departures.
“These companies have highlighted the same problems across the board. It is clear these issues are not coincidental but symptomatic of a larger governance problem.”
