The president of Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has assured that the first goal of his
group after commissioning on Monday is to ramp up production of the various products to ensure that within this year, Dangote refinery is able to satisfy Nigeria’s demand for high-quality products fully.
Valentine Ozigbo – Ka Anambra Chawapu
He added that this will enable the country to eliminate the tragedy of import dependency and stop, once and for all, the dumping in the Nigerian market of toxic sub-standard petroleum products.
He made this known on Monday in Lagos at the formal inauguration of the 650,000 barrels-per-day (BPD) Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical complex in Ibeju-Lekki.
He said the first product will be in the market before the end of July this year.
“Beyond this, we intend to ensure that our plants are run at the highest capacity utilization and highest efficiency to enable us to export competitively to other markets, especially in the ECOWAS and the wider Africa Region in which 53 Countries out of 55 are dependent on imports to meet their petroleum products demand.
“This is a clear opportunity for Nigeria given the African Union’s commitment to the creation of an African Common Market through the recently established African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) regime,” he stated.
According to Dangote, beyond the constant availability of high-quality fuels for Transportation Sector, the Refinery will also make available to Industries vital raw materials for a wide range of manufacturers in the plastics, pharmaceutical, food and beverages, packaging, construction, and many other industries.
The Refinery operation and ancillary business will generate massive job opportunities, the downstream value chain will equally provide far more absorptive capacity for labour in hundreds of thousands, Dangote stated.
“Third, once our plant is fully onstream, we expect that at least 40 per cent of the capacity will be available for export, resulting in significant Foreign Exchange inflows into the country.
“Overall, we are committed to operating our Plant in line with international best practices. Recognizing the importance of protecting the environment, we have adopted stringent environmental, health and safety policies to ensure that the Refinery operates in a safe and sustainable manner,” he further assured.