Villified at home, more foreign countries to buy fuel from Dangote Refinery in Nigeria
By KEMI KASUMU
The Dangote Oil refinery is expected to operate at near full capacity by the end of the year.
Like the saying that prophets are not loved in their own nations, Dangote Refinery Nigeria put down as incapable to satisfy local needs of fuel consumers in the country is fast becoming the toast of international community as the Republic of Ghana plans its fuel import from the Lekki, Lagos-based conglomerate.
This is as the former Gold Coast is reportedly set to buy petroleum products from the Nigeria’s Dangote Oil Refinery once the facility operates at full capacity, the head of the country’s oil regulator said on Monday.
According to a report by Reuters, this could end monthly fuel imports from Europe of $400 million, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, chairman of the National Petroleum Authority, Ghana said at the OTL Africa Downstream oil conference in Lagos.
“If the refinery reaches 650,000 bpd a day capacity, all that volume cannot be consumed by Nigeria alone, so instead of us importing as we do right now from Rotterdam, it will be much easier for us to import from Nigeria and I believe that will bring down our prices,” Hamid said.
According to him, importing from Nigeria rather than Europe would bring down the prices of other goods and services by removing freight costs.
Eventually, he said African countries would agree on a common currency that should dampen demand for dollars.
Ghana’s economy, which grew by 6.9% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2024, has been driven largely by a strong expansion of the extractive sector which has boosted demand for fuel.
The Dangote Oil refinery, built by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote and encouraged by the Muhammadu Buhari Administration (2015-2023), is expected to operate at near full capacity by the end of the year, and analysts believe it could be fully operational in the first quarter of 2025.
The DEFENDER reports that Dangote has been vilified by both government side and some Nigerians, who believed that the company’s success would mean a halt to importation of petroleum products in the country.
To drive home their point, tgey have blamed Dangote, which started couple of months back, for incessant fuel price increase that started over one and half years ago due to what many described as hurried implementation of Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s fuel subsidy removal dine concurrently with floating of the Naira.
That was going on, even as the government side attempted to claim Dangote produces substandard products and that it has no capacity to satisfy the local needs of Nigerians thus resorting to continued importation.
Dangote had refuted alot of claims by the government saying the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), while lifting its Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) was also still importing fuel from abroad.
It also said its PMS is not only the most quality standard but the purest when compared to what Nigerian government through its NNPCL was importing from abroad.
The DEFENDER recalls Prime Minister of the Carribean country of Grenada, Dickson Mitchell, who toured the oil producing factory in Lagos on the sideline of his visit to Nigeria recently, described the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals as a significant investment in industrialisation and manufacturing needed by developing countries for their industrial growth.
Saying Dangote would save Africa from being dump site, he noted that it is through its type of investment that Africa and the developing countries can reverse the cycle of exporting raw materials while importing finished products from developed countries.
This is as Dangote, facing challenges with his home country’s government but being appreciated and valued globally, hinted at potential partnerships with the Caribbean community in the production of cement and fertilisers as well as petroleum products.
