Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote’s group says $19-billion oil refinery is 97-percent complete

Dangote Industries Limited, a multinational manufacturing group owned by Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, has announced that the Dangote Oil Refinery, a $19-billion integrated petrochemical refinery complex, is 97-percent complete.

In a recent update on the ongoing construction work at the multibillion-dollar petrochemical complex in Lagos’s Lekki Free Zone, the manufacturing conglomerate revealed that contractors are working on electrical units, insulation, and testing to complete construction so production can begin.

The disclosure comes more than a month after the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), Nigeria’s sole entity licensed to operate in the petroleum industry, announced that the integrated petrochemical refinery complex had been rescheduled to begin operations in mid-2023, as development works at the petrochemical complex progressed.

In the update, Dangote Industries Limited stated that temporary housing for 20,000 employees had been established by the group. This will further solidify the group’s position as the second-largest employer of labor in Nigeria, behind only the Nigerian government.

The refinery project has been long hampered by a number of factors, including a lack of access to foreign currency, an ailing economy, and the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted supply chains and delayed the shipping of refinery equipment.

Dangote Industries Limited has submitted an application to raise up to N300 billion ($723 million) through a newly established debt issuance program, which consists of a seven-year Tranche-A bond issued at 12.75 percent and a 10-year Tranche-B bond issued at 13.50 percent, in order to finance the group’s integrated petrochemical complex.

This application is part of a move to expedite the construction work at the petrochemical complex.

The refinery will have the largest vertically integrated plant when its pipeline infrastructure is finished, processing up to 650,000 barrels of Nigerian oil per day once the initial 540,000 barrels per day of processing are completed.

The $19-billion refinery is expected to supply 100 percent of Nigeria’s demand for all refined goods while also having a surplus of petroleum products for export, creating a market for $11 billion in Nigerian petroleum products each year.