The $30 billion in income that Dangote Group plans to generate by the end of 2025, according to company President Aliko Dangote, will strengthen the naira. Dangote made the plan known during a Monday tour of Dangote Fertilizer Limited and Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals.
The plan signals a strategy to become independent from the Central Bank of Nigeria regarding foreign exchange sourcing.
The richest man in Africa stated that the substantial amount of foreign exchange that his companies are expected to bring into Nigeria will naturally increase the value of our local currency and restore the value of the naira in the global exchange market.
When the refinery started operating fully in 2024, its primary focus was on the refinement of intermediate products, including naphtha, polypropylene, RCO, gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.
He clarified that in March 2024, the refinery began its steady-state production phase. Furthermore, he projected that by August, production will escalate to 500,000 barrels per day with 15 crude cargoes each month, reaching 550,000 bpd by the end of the year, and aiming for 650,000 bpd by the first quarter of 2025.
“Petrol production will commence in July with sales from August,” assured Dangote.
Additionally, he disclosed that the group plans to list Dangote Fertilizer Limited and Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals on the Nigerian Exchange Group in the first quarter of 2025.
He continued by saying that Nigerians would be allowed to take a stake in these businesses.
“Due to the nature of our business with both the refinery and the fertiliser, we are aiming to list them by the end of this year. However, depending on circumstances, worst-case scenario, we anticipate listing them before the end of the first quarter of next year. This will allow us to offer shares for sale and enable Nigerians to participate as shareholders,” Dangote stated.
At full capacity, the Dangote Refinery can process 650,000 barrels of oil per day, making it the largest single-train facility in both Africa and the globe.
Additionally, the largest granulated urea fertiliser factory in Africa is run by Dangote Fertiliser Limited. At the moment, the most capitalized firm in Nigeria is Dangote Cement.
He emphasized that the refinery would produce 53 million litres of gasoline and 1.1 million tonnes of diesel per day, although its total storage capacity is 4.5 billion litres, which is enough to meet Nigeria’s crude needs for 20 days and store products equal to 15 days’ worth of fuel.
