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L. Fituni, I. Abramova Resource Potential of Africa and Russia's ...

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most promising region for prospecting for iron ore was Okene-<br />

Lokoja. Geological prospecting work carried out by Soviet <strong>and</strong> Nigerian<br />

specialists shows that overall coal reserves amount to approximately<br />

320 million tons.<br />

Later, on the basis <strong>of</strong> these deposits <strong>of</strong> iron ores <strong>and</strong> coking coal<br />

the largest steel plant in Tropical <strong>Africa</strong> was built in Ajaokuta, with<br />

a capacity <strong>of</strong> 1.3 million tons <strong>of</strong> steel a year. Simultaneously, a training<br />

complex consisting <strong>of</strong> a specialized secondary technical school<br />

for 675 students <strong>and</strong> a vocational centre with a total number <strong>of</strong> 1412<br />

trainees is being set up. The complex was planned to train specialists<br />

in the production <strong>of</strong> pig iron <strong>and</strong> steel, agglomeration <strong>and</strong> caking <strong>of</strong><br />

ore. The Soviet foreign-trade organization "Tsvetmetpromexport"<br />

built, during the 1979–1980 period, two systems <strong>of</strong> oil pipelines<br />

stretching for more than 900 kilometers. One <strong>of</strong> them was commissioned<br />

in 1979, which made it possible to increase oil products deliveries<br />

to the towns <strong>of</strong> Benin, Ore <strong>and</strong> Lagos. Since 1978, the Oil<br />

Institute in the town <strong>of</strong> Warri has been graduating specialists for the<br />

oil industry – one <strong>of</strong> the leading branches <strong>of</strong> the Nigerian economy.<br />

In March 2009, a memor<strong>and</strong>um <strong>of</strong> underst<strong>and</strong>ing (MoU) was<br />

signed by Russia’s Rosatom Deputy Director General Nikolay<br />

Spassky <strong>and</strong> Special Adviser to the Nigerian President Emmanuel<br />

Egbogah, in Moscow during the third meeting <strong>of</strong> the Russian-<br />

Nigerian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic <strong>and</strong> Scientific<br />

Technical Cooperation recently.<br />

The agreement for cooperation in the peaceful use <strong>of</strong> nuclear energy<br />

includes the construction <strong>of</strong> nuclear power plants <strong>and</strong> establishment<br />

<strong>of</strong> uranium mining in Nigeria.<br />

Rosatom said that the MoU could lead to bilateral cooperation<br />

on the development <strong>of</strong> nuclear energy infrastructure, including on<br />

nuclear power plants <strong>and</strong> research reactors in Nigeria. Russia would<br />

also assist Nigeria in the field <strong>of</strong> nuclear research <strong>and</strong> in the production<br />

<strong>and</strong> use <strong>of</strong> radioisotopes. The memor<strong>and</strong>um also covers the<br />

joint prospecting <strong>and</strong> development <strong>of</strong> uranium deposits in Nigeria.<br />

The two countries will draft a full intergovernmental cooperation<br />

agreement soon. To solve the increasing electricity dem<strong>and</strong>,<br />

Nigeria has sought the support <strong>of</strong> the International Atomic Energy<br />

118

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