By Ruth Momodu
President of the Dangote Group and Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has alleged that entrenched interests in Nigeria’s oil sector mounted resistance against the establishment of the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Dangote said the powerful network of fuel importers feared the refinery would disrupt the long-standing system that encouraged the importation of refined petroleum products into Nigeria despite the country being one of Africa’s leading crude oil producers.
He explained that his decision to build the refinery was driven largely by the recurring fuel shortages and long queues that Nigerians endured for decades.
According to him, it was unacceptable that citizens in an oil-producing nation often spent several hours — and sometimes days — trying to buy petrol during festive periods and other peak seasons.
Speaking during an interview with the Chief Executive Officer of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, Nicolai Tangen, monitored by Vanguard, Dangote said Africa continued to lose huge foreign exchange earnings because many oil-producing countries exported crude oil but imported refined products.
“We looked at oil. Africa produces oil, but many countries don’t refine it. They export crude and import refined products, which drains foreign reserves,” he said.
“In Nigeria, we had fuel queues for more than 50 years. People queued for days during Christmas just to buy petrol in an oil-producing country. Government refineries were not functioning properly, so I decided to take the bold step of building a refinery.”
Dangote disclosed that the refinery project, which began in 2013, faced major setbacks, including delays in land acquisition and resistance allegedly orchestrated by vested interests within the oil business.
“Some of these obstacles were created by entrenched interests in the oil business — what you might call a mafia — trying to stop us from solving these problems. But we stayed focused,” he said.
He added that the scale of infrastructure required for the project significantly increased its complexity and cost.
According to him, the company had to construct a dedicated port because existing Nigerian ports could not handle the massive equipment needed for the refinery.
“When we started, the naira exchange rate was ₦156 to the dollar. At one point it went as high as ₦1,900, but we still continued,” Dangote stated.
“We had to build our own port because no existing Nigerian port could handle the heavy equipment. Some individual pieces weighed up to 3,000 tonnes. We built roads, water infrastructure and other facilities from scratch.”
He further revealed that the refinery consumes about 440 million litres of treated water, while its water treatment facility spans more than 30 hectares.
Dangote said approximately 67,000 workers were engaged during the construction phase of the refinery, describing the project as one of the most ambitious industrial undertakings on the continent.
“Honestly, we were lucky we didn’t fully understand the enormity of what we were building at the beginning. If I had seen the full scale immediately, I might have chickened out,” he said.
“It was like swimming across the ocean. Once you’re in the middle, you can’t go back, so you keep moving forward.”
He also acknowledged the support received from several financial institutions, including the African Export-Import Bank, African Finance Corporation, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, United Bank for Africa, Standard Bank and Standard Chartered.
According to him, the refinery’s eventual completion surpassed expectations despite the economic and operational hurdles encountered during the process.
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