Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote has announced that fuel from his $19 billion refinery complex will soon be available across Nigeria and the world.
Gatekeepers News reports that Dangote disclosed this in an interview with Bloomberg in Riyadh on the sidelines of the Saudi-Nigeria business roundtable.
Dangote further stated that the refinery’s delay in production to a desire to start refining with crude oil produced locally in Nigeria rather than importing the raw crude and that it already secured a license to refine 300,000 barrels of crude oil daily.
In his words, “We don’t want to start our refinery with foreign goods, we want to start with the Nigerian crude, … We’re more than ready and you will see our gasoline products soon.”
He also noted that Nigeria will be the refinery’s primary market before exporting to the country’s neighbours in West Africa and the globe in general.
He said, “The refinery’s first priority is to supply gasoline to Nigeria before exporting to elsewhere, including the West African region”
Despite missing initial production deadlines, the facility, with a daily capacity of 650,000 barrels, is expected to generate substantial volumes of diesel, kerosene, and jet fuel.
The $19 billion Dangote refinery, commissioned weeks before former President Buhari’s exit, is positioned to contribute significantly to Nigeria’s energy self-sufficiency. Dangote emphasized sourcing crude from various Nigerian producers, including the NNPC, to fuel the facility.
In May, President Tinubu ended the subsidy program, which had cost the country around $10 billion in 2022. The refinery’s operations are poised to reduce Nigeria’s reliance on imports to meet refined petrol demand and mark a significant shift in the country’s energy landscape.
