Aliko Dangote, the billionaire owner of the Dangote Refinery, has shed light on the reasons behind the lack of new refineries in Africa over the past 35 years.
Gatekeepers News reports that in an interview with CNN’s Eleni Giokos, Dangote attributed the issue to beneficiaries of fuel importation in other African countries and the lack of loan facilities for investors due to weak financial institutions.
Dangote stated, “There are other countries in Africa who have been trying to build refineries but have been unable to. There has not been a new refinery in Africa in the last 35 years.”
He continued, “There are so many issues regarding this such as money, political will, and also people who are benefitting from this whole system of importing petroleum products into Africa are discouraging their governments from building a refinery.”
Dangote also highlighted the challenge of accessing loans, saying, “Also, they won’t get loans anyway because they don’t have very strong banks. The international banks will not support anything like this.”
The Dangote Refinery, which began supplying diesel and aviation jet fuel to the Nigerian market in April 2024, is a significant development in Africa’s energy landscape.
According to the Secretary-General of the African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO), Omar Farouk Ibrahim, 75 percent of crude oil produced in Africa is exported to other countries, underscoring the need for increased refining capacity on the continent.
