1973-1976
Eisenbau Essen GmbH (EBE), a subsidiary of Ferrostaal AG in Essen, was awarded the contract in 1973 to rehabilitate the mini-rolling mill of Nigersteel Industries Ltd in Emene, Enugu (the former Biafra), assigning Teodor Garabet with project management until 1976 after its completion and commissioning.
Teodor Garabet was able at the same time to acquire and implement several follow-up contracts that were confirmed by letter of credit of both Nigersteel and the local Nigerian Coal Corporation for EBE, in spite of the extremely difficult logistical conditions in the former Biafra.At the same time he created the basis for starting new projects for EBE in Lagos, the capital of Nigeria, with the Federal Ministry of Industries.
1976-1983
Owing to the successful start in Enugu, and thanks to the initial fundamental relationships with local decision-makers, Teodor Garabet transferred his acquisition activities in 1976 from Enugu to Lagos, receiving the first important opportunity to participate in a nine-figure invitation to tender of the Federal Ministry of Industries for EBE.
For almost four years, i.e. from early 1976 to late 1979, Teodor Garabet acquired on behalf of EBE (with the support of the parent company Ferrostaal AG) the turnkey contract for the construction of a rolling mill at the preferred location of Oshogbo. This acquisition was successful in the face of extremely tough, global, open and fair competition against several international competitors. After this success, several follow-up contracts totalling approximately half a billion Deutschmarks were added by 1983.
At the same time as the contracts for the Oshogbo project from 1980 to 1983, Teodor Garabet also acquired numerous study and engineering projects on behalf of EBE and other companies for various new industries of the Nigerian government worth a total of approximately 50 million Deutschmarks. These also included the construction of an integrated iron and steel plant for flat products in Ikot Abasi.
Under the management of Teodor Garabet and the local authorities, this was followed in the summer of 1983 by the laying of the foundation stone for the last-mentioned milestone project of EBE and Ferrostaal AG.
After he left the company in Nigeria in late 1983, EBE was able - together with Ferrostaal AG and Reynolds from the USA - to start the over 5 billion Deutschmark contract in cooperation with the newly set-up company ALSCON 1989 in the form of a joint venture with the Nigerian government at the same location of Ikot Abasi and put it into operation in the 1990s. This was a restructuring of the project from an original steelworks to an aluminium smelter. Alscon was bought up by the Russian company Russal in 2006. The ALSCON turnkey project was the largest in the history of Ferrostaal AG.