Nigerian billionaire and chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has announced that Nigeria will no longer need to import gasoline by June 2024, thanks to the Dangote Refinery.
Dangote revealed that his refinery, which is already producing diesel and aviation fuel, will be capable of meeting the gasoline needs of West Africa and the aviation fuel demands of the entire continent.
He made this declaration at the Africa CEO Forum Annual Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, on Friday, May 17, 2024, while discussing the progress of the refinery.
“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,” he is quoted to have said.
He added that his company “can supply gasoline to West Africa, diesel to West and Central Africa, and aviation fuel to the entire continent.”
He also pointed out that the work of his company would make Africa self-sufficient in the production of by-products of oil, including fertilizer and raw materials for detergents.
The business mogul stated that his decision to invest all his resources in Africa is to end fuel imports and create jobs on the continent, and the Dangote Refinery was an important part of the transformation process.
“We just commissioned in February and now we are producing jet fuel, we are producing diesel, and by next month, we will be producing gasoline.
What that would do is that we would be taking most of the African crude that is being produced and also be able to supply not only Nigeria, because our capacity is too big for Nigeria, but it would also supply West Africa, Central Africa, and also South Africa.
“We have 650,000 barrels per day, 1 million tonnes of polypropylene, we have 590,000 tonnes of carbon black, which is the raw material for ink, dyes, and so on. We are expanding more. This is the first phase, and we are going on to the next phase, which will start early next year.”