The Chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote has announced that Nigeria will no longer need to import gasoline by June thanks to the Dangote Refinery.
The refinery, already producing diesel and aviation fuel, has the capacity to meet the gasoline needs of West Africa and the aviation fuel demand of the entire continent.Mr. Dangote, speaking at the Africa CEO Forum Annual Summit in Kigali, Rwanda last Friday, explained the progress of the Dangote 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 declared.
He stressed the refinery’s role in reducing Africa’s reliance on imports. “We can supply gasoline to West Africa, diesel to West and Central Africa, and aviation fuel to the entire continent,” Dangote said. “We’re also working towards African self-sufficiency in fertilizer production and raw materials for detergents.”
Dangote discussed his long-held vision for investment in Africa. “We chose to invest all our resources in Africa,” he stated. “The refinery is a major step towards ending fuel imports and creating jobs on the continent.”
The Dangote Refinery, with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, is one of the largest in the world. The refinery began operations in February, producing jet fuel and diesel. Gasoline production is expected to begin next month.“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,” he said.
“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 carbon black, that is the raw materials ink, dyes and co. We are expanding more. This is the first phase and we are going out to the next phase which will start early next year.”
Source:https://www.graphic.com.gh