Aliko Dangote, the head of Dangote Group, has made a bold assertion that Nigeria’s reliance on imported gasoline will cease as soon as next month. This comes with the operational commencement of the massive Dangote Refinery.
During his participation in the Africa CEO Forum Annual Summit in Kigali, Dangote indicated that the refinery has begun distributing diesel and aviation fuel within Nigeria and is fully equipped to meet the diesel and petrol demands of West Africa, as well as the aviation fuel necessities for the entire continent.
Dangote stressed, “As of now, Nigeria doesn’t need to import anything besides gasoline, and we expect that within the next four to five weeks, essentially by sometime in June, Nigeria won’t need to import a single drop of gasoline.”
He went on to outline the refinery’s progress, emphasizing his aim for Africa to reduce its reliance on imports shortly.
“Currently, we have sufficient gasoline to supply the entirety of West Africa, along with diesel for both West and Central Africa. Additionally, we have enough aviation fuel to cater to the entire continent and are even looking to export to countries like Brazil and Mexico,” Dangote continued.
“With polypropylene and polyethylene produced by us, we’ll fulfill Africa’s total demand. We are also producing base oil for engine oil and linear benzyl used in detergent production. There’s a population of 1.4 billion in Africa, yet no one’s producing such materials on the continent.
“All the constituents for our detergents are being imported. We’re now producing that to make Africa self-reliant.
“And as I have previously stated, within three to four years, Africa won’t be importing fertiliser anymore. We’ll make sure Africa is self-sufficient in potash, phosphate, and urea.
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Currently, we produce three million metric tonnes of urea, and in the next twenty months, we aim to double that, matching Egypt’s full capacity,” he added.
Reflecting on his entrepreneurial journey, Dangote reminisced about forsaking potential investments in booming American tech markets to focus on Africa, culminating in the development of one of the largest refineries world-wide.
“We decided to invest in Africa instead of participating in the flourishing capital markets of the US. About five years ago, we set the ambitious goal to skyrocket our revenue from five to thirty billion dollars, and we’ve achieved it. It’s feasible. And we’ve accomplished it with the completion of our refinery.
Dangote continued, “If we continue exporting raw materials and importing goods, we’re essentially importing poverty and exporting jobs. So we have to rewrite that story.”
“We’ve initiated production this February, providing jet fuel, diesel, and we’ll soon add gasoline by next month.
“This initiative will not only enhance the utilization of African crude but will also support not just Nigeria, given that the refinery’s capacity far exceeds national demand, but the entire sub-Saharan region including West, Central, and South Africa.” He concluded.
