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Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote says 650,000 barrel per day oil refinery to begin operations in 2023

Published

1 year ago

April 24, 2022

Africa’s wealthiest man, Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote said on Friday his 650,000 barrel per day oil refinery is expected to be commissioned before the close of President Muhammadu Buhari’s presidential term, which ends next year.

Mr. Dangote made the disclosure in response to a question after a meeting with President Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja.

“By the grace of God, Mr. President will come and commission (the refinery) before the end of his term,” Dangote said.

The Dangote refinery is situated on a 6,180 acres (2,500 hectares) site at the Lekki Free Zone, Lekki, Lagos State. It will process about 650,000 barrels of crude oil daily, transported via pipelines from oil fields in the Niger Delta, where natural gas will also be sourced to supply the fertilizer factory and be used in electrical generation for the refinery complex.

Although Nigeria is one of the largest oil producers in the world, the West African country does not refine crude oil locally. State-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has four refineries, two in Port Harcourt (PHRC), and one each in Kaduna (KRPC) and Warri (WRPC) but none has worked to capacity for years despite several investments to succinate the refineries.

The government sees the refinery as a solution to ending Nigeria’s reliance on imports for most refined petroleum products even though Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil producer and exporter.

The situation with the state-owned refineries in Nigeria and the refusal of past and present governments in Nigeria adds to the high national anticipation surrounding the Dangote refinery but experts have warned that hope should be with caution on Dangote’s project as it only positions a monopoly of an essential commodity like oil.

Related Topics:Aliko Dangote DANGOTE REFINERY Featured

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Congo DR: President Tshisekedi visits China for mining renegotiations

Published

2 days ago

May 27, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Félix Tshisekedi is currently on a visit to China to strengthen his country’s partnership with the Asian giant.

An official of Congo DR, Erik Nyindu Kibambe, while addressing journalists in Beijing, revealed that the trip was meant to be for the renegotiation of mining contracts. Kibambe maintained that talks were going “wonderfully.”

The president had previously promised to renegotiate mining contracts, in particular, the one signed in 2008 with China by his predecessor, Joseph Kabila (2001-2019), for better terms in favour of the country.

The president was received by a cheering audience and a line of honour and jubilant children between meetings with Mr Xi and Premier Li Qiang.

Mr. Li told Mr Tshisekedi that he believed “China-DRC relations will surely achieve greater development and benefit both peoples.”

A statement by the Chinese foreign ministry revealed that the countries were upgrading “the bilateral relationship from a win-win strategic cooperative partnership to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.”

Congo is one of the most natural resource-rich nations, holding massive untapped deposits of minerals including cobalt, copper, diamonds and gold amounting to approximately $24 trillion.

China is a major investor in the country where it leads the lucrative mining sector with firms like Sicomines.

VenturesNow

Kenya, IMF agree terms for $3 billion Extended Credit Facility

Published

5 days ago

May 24, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Kenya has reached an agreement that could unlock more than $3 billion of new financing with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The international lender and the country said the agreement could help relieve pressure on government finances in East Africa’s largest economy.

The agreement is the fifth review of Kenya’s External Credit Facility and Extended Fund Facility arrangements, an extension of the program and augmentation for access under a 20-month Resilience and Sustainability Facility.

Under the agreement, Kenya will get access to $544 million through the Resilience and Sustainability Facility, which is intended to support climate change adaptation and resilience. A total of $3.5 billion had been committed to funding for Kenya under the three facilities, and its executive board would likely consider the staff-level agreement in July.

The IMF stated that the medium-term outlook for the Kenyan economy remained favourable, although the economy had been strained by a challenging external environment. The IMF maintained that the planned fiscal consolidation was appropriate, while also protecting priority social spending.

“Exchange rate flexibility and proactive monetary policy will remain critical to preserving macroeconomic stability and supporting market confidence against the backdrop of a challenging global economic outlook and continued uncertainty in international financial markets,” IMF said in a statement.

Kenya has insisted that it would not default on its debt repayment obligations despite delayed payment of civil service salaries.

The country in April revealed plans to issue a new Eurobond to manage 2024’s maturity of a Ksh270 billion ($2 billion) 10-year bond.