Aliko Dangote, Chairman of the Dangote Group, has announced that with the strategic plans set by the Dangote Refinery, Nigeria will no longer need to import gasoline by next month. Speaking as a panelist at the Africa CEO Forum Annual Summit in Kigali on Friday, Dangote emphasized the refinery’s capability to not only meet Nigeria’s gasoline needs but also supply diesel and aviation fuel across West Africa and the entire African continent.
“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 declared.
The refinery, which has already commenced the supply of diesel and aviation fuel, is poised to drastically reduce the continent’s dependency on fuel imports. Dangote highlighted that the refinery could meet the diesel needs of both West and Central Africa and fulfill the aviation fuel demand of the entire continent, with surplus available for export to regions such as Brazil and Mexico.
Reflecting on the progress made, Dangote expressed a vision for reducing Africa’s reliance on imports. “We have enough gasoline to give to at least the entire West Africa, 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.
Dangote further detailed the refinery’s broader impact, stating, “Our polypropylene and our polyethylene will meet the entire demand of Africa, and we are producing base oil, which is like engine oil, and linear benzyl, a raw material to produce detergent. We are producing that raw material to make Africa self-sufficient.”
In the agricultural sector, Dangote projected that within three to four years, Africa would no longer need to import fertilizer. “We will make Africa self-sufficient in potash, phosphate, and urea. We are at three million tonnes now, and in the next twenty months, we will reach six million tonnes of urea, matching the entire capacity of Egypt.”
Highlighting the journey towards this milestone, Dangote recounted his vision for investing in Africa and reducing fuel importation. “For some of us, despite the boom of the US capital market, we didn’t participate; we took all our money and invested in Africa. We had this dream, just about five years ago, to move from five billion dollars in revenue to thirty billion, and we made it happen.”
Dangote underscored the significance of adding value locally to create jobs and reduce poverty. “If you look at the whole continent, only Algeria and Libya don’t import petroleum products, which is a tragedy. We need to change and ensure we produce finished products and create jobs.”
