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Nigeria’s Dangote refinery gets licence for 300,000bpd crude

Published

6 months ago

November 13, 2023

Months after launching the world’s largest single-train refinery, Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote says he has secured a licence to refine more than 300,000 barrels of Nigerian crude per day, and will also begin to process gasoline soon.

Dangote, who is Africa’s richest man, disclosed in an interview in Riyadh on the sidelines of the Saudi-Nigeria business roundtable that “we don’t want to start our refinery with foreign goods; we want to start with the Nigerian crude.”

“We’re more than ready, and you will see our gasoline products soon,” he added.

The refinery was set to begin production in August but failed to. This raised concerns, as it had missed multiple deadlines over the years. However, Dangote is adamant that “very very soon” his refinery will begin to produce.

Although the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, a shareholder in the project, cannot supply the facility until November, it said in September that Dangote was purchasing oil from trading companies, even though the refinery was built to process light, sweet Nigerian crude.

According to Dangote, whose wealth is estimated at $16.2 billion, the country’s state oil company and other Nigerian producers will supply crude for the production of 27 million litres of diesel, 11 million litres of kerosene, and nine million litres of jet fuel.

Nigeria produced 1.49 million barrels of oil per day last month, the most in nearly two years, after increasing its output by 60,000 barrels per day. As it increases its oil output, the West African country has introduced a new grade of crude called Nembe through a joint venture.

None of Nigeria’s publicly owned refineries has worked to capacity for years, despite several investments to revive them. The failure of both the previous and current governments has contributed to the high level of national anticipation surrounding the Dangote refinery.

The Dangote refinery is expected to generate 12,000 megawatts of electricity and over 135,000 permanent jobs. It would also save Nigeria between $25b and $30b in forex annually. It is expected to give the economy an inflow of $10 billion a year.

Related Topics:DANGOTE REFINERY Featured Nigeria

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Nigerian govt denies reports it plans to borrow pension fund for infrastructure

Published

19 hours ago

May 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The Nigerian government has denied reports that it plans to borrow the N20tn pension fund to finance infrastructural projects.

In a statement made in Abuja, Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, stated that the government would abide by the laws and guidelines in place pertaining to the pension fund.

Following a two-day Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday, the minister reportedly informed reporters that the government would present a plan to use local funds, including the fund, to finance infrastructure development.

Edunstated that the government does not intend to exceed these legal boundaries, emphasising that the government was committed to protecting workers’ pensions.

“It has come to my notice that stories are making the round that the Federal Government plans to illegally access the hard-earned savings and pension contributions of workers. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

“The pension industry, like most the financial industries, is highly regulated. There are rules. There are limitations about what pension money can be invested in and what it cannot be invested in.

“The Federal Government has no intention whatsoever to go beyond those limitations and go outside those bounds which are there to safeguard the pensions of workers.

“What was announced to the Federal Executive Council was that there was an ongoing initiative drawing in all the major stakeholders in the long-term saving industry, those that handle funds that are available over a long period to see how, within the regulations and the laws; these funds could be used maximally to drive investment in key growth areas,” Edun clarified.

The plan to spend the pension fund was reported and was widely criticised. The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria and the Nigeria Labour Congress had earlier on Thursday urged the government to abstain from making any changes to the pension fund.

They stated, “Nigerian workers have entrusted their hard-earned savings for retirement security, not as a means for government projects. It is imperative to halt any further plans to tap into these funds, especially given the lack of transparency and accountability in past government borrowing practices.”

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Nigeria’s inflation hits 28-year high of 33.69% in April

Published

2 days ago

May 16, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s consumer inflation reached a 28-year high of 33.69% in April, up from 33.20% in March, according to statistics agency figures released on Wednesday.

President Bola Tinubu’s administration has slashed petrol and energy subsidies and devalued the local naira currency twice.

To manage pricing pressures, the central bank has hiked interest rates twice this year, including the highest hike in almost 17 years. The central bank governor has stated that rates will remain high for as long as necessary to reduce inflation. The bank will host another rate-setting meeting next week.

When compared to the previous year, the inflation rate in April 2024 was 11.47 percentage points more than in April 2023, when it stood at 22.22 percent. This implies that the headline inflation rate has increased dramatically during the last year.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, food and nonalcoholic beverages remained the largest contributor to inflation in April. Food inflation, which accounts for most of the inflation basket, rose to 40.53% yearly from 40.01% in March.

Price pressures have left millions of Nigerians facing the biggest cost-of-living crisis in decades, as they fight to satisfy their most basic necessities.

Tinubu has offered a 35% salary increase for state personnel to alleviate pressure on government workers. To assist disadvantaged households, his government has resumed a direct cash transfer program and provided at least 42,000 tons of grains such as corn and millet.