The President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said Monday that the first refined petroleum products from the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery would hit the market before the end of July this year.
Mr Dangote stated this while delivering his speech during the official inauguration of the refinery by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Dangote said the commissioning ceremony was “just the beginning of a great journey, a milestone in a new and exciting trajectory for the downstream sector of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
Also read: As President Buhari Inaugurates Dangote Refinery, Nigerians react
“It is our firm commitment that we will replicate in this sector what we have achieved in the cement and fertiliser markets, where Nigeria transited from being the largest importer of these products to a net exporter.
“Your excellencies, distinguished guests, our first product will be in the market before the end of July or beginning of August this year,” Mr Dangote said.
“This is a clear opportunity for Nigeria given the African Union’s commitment to the creation of an African Common Market through the recently established African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) regime,” Mr Dangote said.
He noted that beyond the commissioning ceremony, the first goal is to ramp up production of the various products to ensure that within this year, the refinery can fully satisfy the nation’s demand for quality products.
“There will be constant availability of high-quality fuels for our transportation sector, the refinery will also make available to our industries vital raw materials for a wide range of manufacturing,” he said.
“Our group’s corporate vision is driven by our mission to produce what we consume and to promote self-sufficiency in the basic needs of our people. We decided on a plant designed with state-of-the-art technology and a scale in a capacity that will be a game-changer in Africa and the global market.
“We have built a refinery with a capacity to process 650,000 barrels per day in a single train which is the largest in the world. We have selected the best plants, equipment and the latest technologies from across the world.”
Mr Dangote added that the company would ensure that its plants are run at the highest capacity and efficiency to enable it to export competitively to other markets.
“This is a clear opportunity for Nigeria given the African Union’s commitment to the creation of an African Common Market through the recently established African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) regime,” he said.
He explained that beyond the constant availability of high-quality fuels for the transportation sector, the refinery would also make available to local industries vital raw materials for a wide range of manufacturers in the plastics, pharmaceutical, food and beverages, packaging, construction, and many other industries.
He noted that while the refinery operation and ancillary business will generate massive job opportunities, the downstream value chain will equally provide far more absorptive capacity for labour in hundreds of thousands.
He added that once the plant is fully on stream, we expect that at least 40 per cent of the capacity will be available for export, and this will result in significant foreign exchange inflows into the country.
“Overall, we are committed to operating our plant in line with int’l best practice, recognising the importance of protecting the environment, we have adopted stringent environmental, health & safety policies,” he said.
Why I underperformed despite loans – Buhari
However, President Muhammadu Buhari listed some reasons his administration underperformed despite receiving huge loans from Nigeria’s benefactors.
Buhari, who was one of the special guests on Monday at the inauguration of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals plants in Lagos State, South West Nigeria, said global crises like the Coronavirus pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war were among significant challenges that impacted Nigeria’s financial situation.
The President also blamed insurgency as part of the problems that hampered his administration’s performance.
“Our economy, which has been stressed for many decades by huge deficits in economic infrastructure and over a decade of insurgency, has also been impacted by several external crises, including the global financial crisis – the collapse of the oil prices, Covid-19 and Russia/Ukraine war.
“The consequences of these challenges constitute a severe strain in our economy, limiting the Government’s ability to provide basic infrastructure without resulting in huge borrowings.
‘‘Our Government, therefore, took the decision to focus on creating an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive and fill the enormous gap in investment not only in infrastructure but also in all critical sector sectors,” he said.
Buhari admitted that without the active participation of the private sector and a strong commitment to public-private partnership, the country’s economy will continue to nosedive and impede economic growth.
The Nigerian leader noted that the government should continue to provide an enabling environment and encourage innovative public-private partnerships in all sectors of our economy. “Our administration has demonstrated its commitment to this in many areas such as executive orders 007 of 2019, which facilitated that.”
Buhari, who commended the Chairman of the Dangote Group of industries, Aliko Dangote, for always putting the country on the map through his bold visionary and courageous investment in key Industries, noted that the completion of the refinery was a notable milestone
“On our economy and a game changer for the downstream petroleum product market, not only for Nigeria but to the entire African continent.”
He, however, advocated the unity of Africa in order to achieve the goal of agenda 2063, adding that “we must integrate our economies, eliminate various threats and energise our youthful population to scale up our protective capacity.
“We must create necessary conditions for our private sector to grow and partner with the Public sector to accelerate economic growth across the continent. We must not allow outside powers to choose some of our leaders to destabilise our economy and our political trajectory.”
African Presidents hail Dangote
The Presidents of Ghana, Niger, Senegal, Togo and the Chad on Monday hailed the Chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote for the establishment of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Plant.
The leaders, who joined their Nigerian counterpart, President Muhammadu Buhari, at the inauguration of the 650,000 bpd refinery in the Lekki area of Lagos State, said the refinery which is one of the biggest in the world will make Africa better and stronger.
“This spectacular project, the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Complex makes West Africa better and stronger. And I congratulate this distinguished patriotic son of Africa for the shear brilliance of this initiative,” said Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Senegal’s President Macky Sall, who also spoke on behalf of Togo’s President, Faure Gnassingbe, said that the Dangote refinery project will improve access to electricity for Africans many of whom still have no electricity access.
“This great investment will inspire respect and admiration here in Nigeria, the most populous country on our continent. The Dangote Group is certainly helping to reduce the challenge of universal access to electricity and give opportunity to industrialise our continent,” Sall said.
President of Niger Republic, Mohamed Bazoum also corroborated what his colleagues said, thanking Dangote for the project.
