No More Importation of Fuel in Nigeria from June, says Dangote

Aliko Dangote, the Chairman of the Dangote Group, has announced that Nigeria will achieve self-sufficiency in premium motor spirit (PMS) due to the strategic plan implemented by the Dangote Refinery, eliminating the need for imports by next month.

During the Africa CEO Forum Annual Summit in Kigali, Dangote revealed that the refinery, currently providing diesel and aviation fuel in Nigeria, is equipped to satisfy West Africa’s diesel and petrol requirements and cater to the aviation fuel demands across the entire African continent.

Africa’s wealthiest individual shared these insights while participating in a panel discussion at the summit last Friday.

Currently, Nigeria has no reason to import anything except for gasoline. By June, in the upcoming four to five weeks, Nigeria must refrain from importing any gasoline whatsoever.

Dangote highlighted the significant progress made by the oil company, emphasizing their commitment to reducing Africa’s reliance on imports in the near future. He stated that they have ample gasoline for West Africa, diesel for West and Central Africa, and aviation fuel for the entire continent with surplus for export to Brazil and Mexico.

Additionally, Dangote mentioned that their polypropylene and polyethene production can meet Africa’s demands, along with base oil and linear benzyl essential for detergent manufacturing.

By producing these raw materials locally, they aim to make Africa self-sufficient in this sector given its vast population of 1.4 billion people.

In just a few years, Africa will no longer need to import fertilizer. We are working towards self-sufficiency in potash, phosphate, and urea production, with our current urea capacity at three million tonnes set to double to six million tonnes within the next twenty months.

Dangote’s vision of investing in Africa and reducing fuel imports has materialized with the establishment of one of the world’s largest refineries. While many focused on investing in booming US companies like Google and Microsoft, we chose to invest all our resources in Africa.

Five years ago, we envisioned a dream to grow our revenue from five billion to thirty billion dollars. We turned that dream into reality by completing our expansive refinery.

This refinery, which we believe Africa desperately needs, symbolizes our commitment to producing finished products and generating employment opportunities. It is disheartening that only Algeria and Libya do not rely on petroleum imports in the entire continent, while the rest are importers.

This cycle of importing raw materials and exporting finished goods perpetuates poverty and job loss in Africa. It is imperative that we shift this narrative by focusing on local production and job creation.

In February, we successfully began operations and are now manufacturing jet fuel, diesel, and will soon add gasoline to our production line by next month. Our goal is to utilize a significant portion of the African crude oil output and not only cater to the needs of Nigeria but also supply regions such as West Africa, Central Africa, and South Africa due to our large capacity.

With 650,000 barrels per day production capacity, 1 million tonnes of polypropylene, and 590,000 units of carbon black used in products like ink and dyes, we are well-equipped for expansion. This marks just the beginning as we plan to embark on the next phase starting early next year.