Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote set to launch continent’s largest fertilizer plant
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, is set to inaugurate his $2.5-billion fertilizer complex in Lagos, Nigeria, as part of a planned drive to put the country on the path to food sufficiency.
The formal introduction ceremony of the fertilizer plant, which will be launched by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in accompaniment with Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is scheduled to commence at 10AM today at the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos.
Others expected to attend the ceremony include Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele, Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Mahmoud Abubakar, and Industry, Trade and Investment Minister Adeniyi Adebayo.
The $2.5-billion urea fertilizer plant, which was developed to meet Nigeria’s need for fertilizer, a vital component of establishing food sufficiency for Africa’s most populous country, is reported to be the continent’s largest granulated urea fertilizer complex.
The complex will manufacture 3 million metric tonnes of urea fertilizer per year during its initial phase of operation.
With Nigeria’s current fertilizer use amounting to 1.5 million metric tonnes, the plant’s completion will propel the country toward self-sufficiency in food production.
Experts believe that the 3 million tonnes of fertilizer that will be produced yearly by the $2.5-billion facility will alleviate food insecurity in the country and turn Nigeria into a net exporter of food to the rest of the world.
Following the initial phase of its operation, the plant’s capacity will be extended to create several grades of fertilizers to suit the soil, crop and climate-specific requirements of the African continent, as fertilizer is crucial for agribusiness in Africa.
The project will contribute significantly to alleviating Nigeria’s forex scarcity, as well as the pressure on the value of the naira, as it will reduce the country’s fertilizer imports and generate more than $400 million in foreign currency annually.
According to a report published last week by Billionaires.Africa, Dangote’s $19-billion oil refinery is reportedly 90-percent complete and scheduled to open in Q3 2022.
When finished, the refinery’s pipeline infrastructure, which will be the world’s biggest vertically integrated plant, will process 540,000 barrels of Nigerian oil per day during the first phase of operation, increasing to 650,000 barrels per day thereafter.