Nigeria will no longer need to import gasoline by June 2024, according to Aliko Dangote, Chairman of the Dangote Group. Dangote made this announcement while speaking as a panelist at the Africa CEO Forum Annual Summit in Kigali, highlighting the operational plans of the Dangote Refinery.
The refinery, which has already started supplying diesel and aviation fuel within Nigeria, has the capacity to meet the diesel and petrol needs of West Africa and the aviation fuel requirements for the entire African continent. Dangote stated, “Right now, Nigeria has no cause to import anything apart from gasoline, and by sometime in June, within the next four or five weeks, Nigeria shouldn’t import anything like gasoline; not one drop of a litre.”
Dangote emphasized the refinery’s significant role in reducing Africa’s dependency on imports. “We have enough gasoline to give to at least the entire West Africa, and diesel to give to West Africa and Central Africa. We have enough aviation fuel to give to the entire continent and also export some to Brazil and Mexico,” he said.
In addition to fuel, the refinery is set to meet the continent’s demand for polypropylene, polyethylene, and base oils, which are essential for producing engine oil and detergents. Dangote pointed out that these raw materials are currently imported, but the refinery’s operations will make Africa self-sufficient in these areas.
Dangote also discussed plans for the future, stating that Africa will no longer need to import fertilizer within the next three to four years. “We will make Africa self-sufficient in potash, phosphate, and urea; we are at three million metric tonnes, and in the next twenty months, we will be at six million metric tonnes of urea, which is the entire capacity of Egypt,” he said.
Reflecting on his investment in Africa, Dangote recounted the decision to focus on the continent rather than the booming US capital market. “We had this dream just about five years ago, and we said we wanted to move from five billion dollars in revenue to thirty billion dollars in revenue, and we made it happen. It is possible and now we have made it happen and now we have finished our refinery.”
Dangote highlighted the importance of producing finished products within Africa to create jobs and reduce poverty. “One of the things we also need to know as Africans is that we produce raw materials and export them. When you export raw materials and somebody now keeps importing things into your continent and dumping goods, what you are importing is poverty and exporting jobs. So, we have to change that narrative.”
The refinery, which commissioned in February, is already producing jet fuel and diesel, with gasoline production expected to start next month. This development will enable Nigeria to utilize most of the African crude being produced and supply fuel not only to Nigeria but also to West Africa, Central Africa, and South Africa.
“We have 650,000 barrels per day, 1 million metric tonnes of polypropylene, and 590,000 metric tonnes of carbon black; those are the raw materials—ink, dyes and co. We are expanding more. This is the first phase and we are going out to the next phase, which will start early next year,” Dangote concluded.
