Nigeria is blessed with abundant natural resources, particularly crude oil. It is sometimes the largest oil producer in Africa and one of the top ten globally. However, the country’s refining capacity has been historically insufficient to meet the demands of its growing population and economy.
Nigeria’s refining infrastructure has been plagued by inefficiency, underinvestment, and corruption. The country has four state-owned refineries that have become dysfunctional due to poor maintenance, outdated technology, and operational inefficiencies.
This shortfall necessitates importing a huge portion of its fuel needs, leading to a complex and often controversial dependence on foreign fuel sources.
To make fuel affordable, the government often subsidizes it, creating a huge financial burden on the state. Although these subsidies aim to ease economic hardship, they have also led to corruption and mismanagement.
Now, there have been efforts to address these challenges. The government has been working on various reforms, including partially removing the subsidy to improve the efficiency of the oil and gas sector, attract private investment, and increase local refining capacity.
The most notable development is the $20 billion Dangote Refinery, owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, with a refining capacity of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd). However, since the refinery is not yet operating at full capacity, Nigeria still imports fuel.
Dangote recently revealed that some personnel from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and oil traders, who have a blending plant off Malta, along with international oil companies refusing to supply crude to his refineries, are part of his challenges.
Beyond the scuffle, if things go as planned, Nigeria will stop importing fuel by August as stated by Dangote. In 2023, Nigeria’s largest petrol imports came from Togo, totaling $109.3 million, with Tunisia following at $104.35 million, according to data from Trade Map, a global database on international trade statistics
Below are the top 5 African countries Nigeria imported petrol from in 2023:
Rank | Country | Petrol import value |
---|---|---|
1 |
Togo |
$109.3 million |
2 |
Tunisia |
$104.35 million |
3 |
Côte d’Ivoire |
$24.84 million |
4 |
Egypt |
$4.76 million |
5 |
South Africa |
$414,000 |