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Africa’s richest man and billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote has urged the Nigerian government to complete the OB3 Pipeline in the country’s southwest to make gas available to manufacturers.
The businessman, who believes that his $19-billion integrated refinery and petrochemical complex, Dangote Oil Refinery, has the potential to position Nigeria as Africa’s leading polypropylene hub, stated that the government should prioritize funding for gas infrastructure.
“There is a need to prioritize financing of gas infrastructure, gas allocation to the domestic market, and adjustment of the fiscal framework to make the supply of gas to the domestic market attractive for oil companies,” Dangote said in a statement obtained by Billionaires.Africa.
He added that the government must strengthen Nigeria’s competitiveness by investing in the necessary infrastructure to increase non-oil exports, which are presently low in comparison to other top African oil producers.
Dangote’s statement comes nearly a week after his diversified manufacturing conglomerate, Dangote Industries Limited, completed its N187.6-billion ($452 million) Series-1 bond issuance to fund the completion of the Dangote Oil Refinery.
Once completed, the refinery’s pipeline infrastructure will process 540,000 barrels of Nigerian crude per day in the first phase of operation, increasing to 650,000 barrels per day later.
The refinery will also produce 65 million liters of premium motor spirits (petrol), 15 million liters of diesel, and 3 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day, in addition to jet fuel.
Given the significance of the refinery’s cash-flow contribution to Dangote Industries’ deleveraging capacity, U.S. credit rating agency Fitch Ratings disclosed that completing the refinery project on time is critical for the company’s financial health, as only limited delays or cost overruns are tolerated in its current financial rating.
