Today, Monday, marked a defining moment for Nigeria as one of the Africa’s wealthiest entrepreneur, Aliko Dangote, launched Dangote refinery, expectedly one of Africa’s biggest oil refinery.
The refinery which cost about $19billion to build will, hopefully, provide the answer to the incessant fuel scarcity in the country and become a major exporter of refined petroleum products with opportunities of boosting the foreign exchange earning capability of the country.
The new facility located in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub, with a capacity to produce 650,000 barrels of oil per day, is envisioned to commence operations by the end of July, 2023.
Addressing a handful of leaders of African nations present at the occasion, the president, Muhammadu Buhari, said the project shows the importance of partnering with the private sector “to accelerate economic growth across the continent.”
Aliko Dangote said the refinery will be operating alongside a fertilizer plant and powered by a 435-megawatt power station.
He reckoned that at full capacity, at least 40% of the oil products made there would be available for export, resulting in significant foreign exchange earnings for the country.
“Our first call is to ramp up production to ensure that this year we are able to fully satisfy our nation’s demand for higher-quality products to enable us to eliminate the tragedy of import dependency and stop once and for all the dumping in our market of toxic, substandard petrol products,” Dangote said.
Experts believe that the refinery will be of immense benefits not just to Nigeria, but Africa in general. They anticipate that it is capable of creating tens of thousands of jobs, in addition to improving fuel supplies across the country and Africa, especially given that the existing refineries in the country have been in comatose position.
However, experts believe that how all these play out will depend on time.