The Dangote Refinery has begun turning out products, despite some difficulties faced recently by the facility’s mastermind.
Aliko Dangote, president of the Dangote Group, thanked Nigerian President Bola Tinubu for “his support and making our dream come true”. The start would not have been possible, Dangote said, without Tinubu’s “visionary leadership and prompt attention to details. His intervention at various stages cleared all impediments thereby accelerating the actualisation of the project.”
The Dangote Refinery was officially inaugurated in May 2023, by then president Muhammadu Buhari.
The 650,000 barrel per day plant received its first cargo of crude on December 12. A number of additional deliveries took place, with the sixth cargo last week.
Dangote went on to thank Nigerian National Petroleum Co. (NNPC), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
The three state-controlled organisations were “dependable partners” in the works, Dangote said.
The executive went on to express appreciation to the project’s financiers “both local and offshore, who demonstrated a great deal of patience”. Lagos State has also been supportive, Dangote said. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu “has been incredibly proactive in ensuring that the many challenges we encountered in the course of executing this project were quickly resolved”.
As of the time of going to press, neither the president, nor NNPC, nor the governor of Lagos had officially responded to the start of production.
Production has begun with diesel and aviation fuel, according to Dangote. He said products should reach the market this month, following regulatory approval.
Shippers delivered the first six million barrels of crude to the refinery’s two single point moorings (SPMs), 25 km offshore.
The refinery will be able to load 2,900 trucks a day with products for local distribution.
Government relations
While Dangote was eager to express gratitude to the government, there have been some signs of strain.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) raided Dangote’s headquarters in Lagos on January 4.
A statement from Dangote Group last week said the visit had been over foreign exchange access provided by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), from 2014 to present.
The EFCC ignored Dangote’s request for clarification. The agency carried out the raid in a “manner that appeared designed to cause us unwarranted embarrassment”.
The company said there had been no allegation of wrongdoing. Dangote is committed to providing all co-operation, it said, and has delivered documents to the agency. “We remain steadfast in our belief in Nigeria’s commitment to the rule of law and its dedication to fostering an environment conducive for investment and value creation”, it said.
Clementine Wallop, senior adviser to political risk consultancy Horizon Engage, noted the start of the refinery was positive for Dangote and Nigeria. However, “the political backdrop in recent weeks has been challenging for the company. We are closely monitoring the relationship between Aliko Dangote, Aso Villa and NNPC. The tone of the statement about the refinery was insightful on this score.”
Wallop continued to say it would be “interesting to see how much crude NNPC supplies to the refinery, and on what schedule”.
Nigerian law enforcement agencies have targeted former head of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele. Under Emefiele, the bank allocated access to US dollars at its discretion.
Agencies have accused Emefiele of a number of crimes since 2022, including financing terrorism.
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