By Abba Hamisu Sani
Africa-Press – Nigeria. 22 of May 2023 is another milestone to Nigerian business space especially the petro- chemical sector of the economy as the long awaited Dangote refinery was commissioned by the outgoing Nigerian President Muhammad Buhari.
The facility which has the capacity of refining 650,000 barrels per day will also meet all the domestic needs of Nigeria’s fuel in addition to creating one hundred Thousand Jobs.
According to the Facts Sheet on Dangote Petroleum Refinery, the new refinery can meet 100% of the Nigerian requirement of all refined products (gasoline, 53 million liters per day; diesel, 34 million liters per day; kerosene, 10 million liters per day, and Aviation Jet, 2 million liters per day) and also have surplus of each of these products for export.
The project which is the first mega private enterprise in Nigeria is the largest single train refinery in the world.
Background of the project
Aliko Dangote is the Chairman Dangote Group.He recounted how the revocation of the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refinery license won under Olusegun Obasanjo by the Umar Musa Yar’Adua’s government back in 2007 motivated him to spend over $18.5bn to build the world’s largest single-train refinery.
The Forbes billionaire narrated this at the commissioning of his 650,000 barrels per day refinery in Lagos.
Bluestar, a consortium led by Dangote had bought controlling stakes in the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries in the last days of the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The consortium paid a total of $721 million for the 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) Port Harcourt refinery and the 110,000 bpd Kaduna refinery.
But late President Yar’Adua’s administration refunded Dangote after revoking the license.
“Initially we thought to enter into the industry by acquiring the brownfield refineries under the Federal Government privatization programmes in 2007. Regrettably, the outcome of the exercise was reversed and our payment was returned. This motivated us to rethink our market entry strategy and business model.
“We subsequently committed to entering the market boldly with a vision to invest in a greenfield refinery that will transform the industry in Nigeria and Africa as a whole and that was why we went for the biggest refinery ever built in the world.
“We have built the refinery with the capacity of 650,000 barrels per day of crude oil plus 900,000 metric tonnes of polypropylene in a single train which is the largest built ever.
“We have selected the best plant and equipment and the latest technology from across the world. our cluster location and offshore loading and offloading facility with the capacity to receive all our crude oil supplies and evacuate up to 75 percent of our liquid product- giving us direct access to the rest of Africa and the global market for export. In addition, 80 percent of our production can also be discharged through trucks to go around Nigeria.
“Our huge investment of over $18.5bn in this industry has been prompted by our desire to support and contribute our quota to the Federal Government’s sustained efforts to transform our economy and properly position our country as a leading nation in Africa. “ Dangote said.
The Kano born businessman also said that he would replicate his successes in cement and fertilizer manufacturing.
“It is our firm commitment that we will replicate in this sector, what we have actually achieved in the cement and fertilizer market where Nigeria will transit from being the largest importer of refined products to a net exporter by the end of August this year. > Mohammad Reza: “We intend to ensure that our plants run at the highest capacity utilization and the highest efficiency to enable us to export competitively to other markets, especially in the ECOWAS and the wider region in which 53 countries out of 55 are dependent on imports to meet their petroleum products demand.
“This is a clear opportunity for Nigeria given the African Union’s commitment to the creation of the African common market through the recently established AfCFTA regime.
“Beyond the availability of high-quality fuel for our transportation sector, the refinery will also make available for our industries the vital materials for a wide range of manufacturers in the plastics, pharmaceuticals, food, beverages, construction and many other industries.
“Second, both the refinery’s operations and ancillary businesses will generate massive job opportunities. The downstream value chain will equally provide far more absorptive capacity for labor in hundreds of thousands” He stated.
The refinery will boost business among African Countries
While commissioning the Facility President Buhari described the refinery project as a giant initiative that will boost business between African countries.
The Ghanaian President, Akufo Addo, while delivering his special remarks said the refinery would not only strengthen the Nigerian economy, but that of West Africa and the entire continent by extension.
“I’ve said it before, that when we think of West Africa and Africa before our individual countries, we’re not just being Pan-Africans, we’re being true nationalists because what makes West Africa and indeed Africa better will make each of our individual countries better and more prosperous.
“This spectacular project, the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical complex, does exactly that. It makes West Africa better and stronger,” Addo stated.
Similarly, the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, also at the event, observed that the Dangote Refinery is a thing of pride for the entire African continent.
“It is a great investment that confers great respect and admiration to Nigeria, the most populous country in our continent. The Dangote Group is certainly helping to meet the challenge of universal access to electricity, to fertilizer and to give opportunities to the other African countries.” He said.
He stressed that, for a continent with enormous energy resources, the refinery would finally allow Africa to add value to its natural resources rather than export them in their raw form.
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