Buhari inaugurates multi-billion dollars Dangote refinery; Group bankroll 70% of loan as products hit market August 2023

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday commissioned the $18bn Dangote refinery & Petrochemicals plant at the Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos state.

The President was received by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, accompanied by the President/CEO, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

President Buhari described the feat as a significant milestone for Nigeria’s economy and a game changer for the downstream petroleum products market in the entire African region.

“This mega industry we are commissioning today is a clear example of what can be achieved when entrepreneurs are encouraged and supported and when an enabling environment is created for investments and for businesses to thrive.

‘‘I am confident that my successor, His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will sustain the improvement in our economic and business environment and strengthen the framework of our public private partnership policies to accelerate the pace of our economic growth and development.

‘I am happy to leave our economy in very competent hands,” Buhari said.

President Buhari, commended Alhaji Aliko Dangote’s leadership in executing the 650,000 barrels per day refinery, while urging other entrepreneurs to emulate his example in driving economic growth and realizing Nigeria’s economic potential.

He stressed the need for African countries to come together, integrate their economies, eliminate trade barriers, and rally their populations to achieve Agenda 2063 for the continent’s prosperity.

Speaking further, the outgoing President said: ‘‘I urge and encourage our other great entrepreneurs to emulate this iconic Nigerian industrialist and join the Government in accelerating our growth in order to realize our country’s globally recognized economic potential.

‘‘When I travel around Africa and meet and engage my brother Heads of State (and I am delighted some of their Excellences are here) I often sense a quiet expectation that our country is blessed with resources and human capacity to lead Africa’s rise to economic prosperity and the attainment of Agenda 2063 – ‘The Africa we all want.’

The multi-billion dollars facility is expected to enable Nigeria achieve self-sufficiency in refined products and even surplus for export.

On his part, chairman and President of the Dangote group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote while thanking President Buhari and the Lagos state government for the support said that the company will release the first batch of refined products from the 650,000 bpd capacity Dangote Refinery & Petrochemicals plant into the market in July and August this year.

Meanwhile, Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said that the Dangote Group has paid back about 70 percent of the loans it took to construct its mega 650,000 bpd refinery in Lagos.

Emefiele made this revelation on Monday during the ground-breaking ceremony to commission the refinery, which has been described as Africa’s biggest refinery and among the six biggest in the world.

“The Dangote Group has paid down its total loans outstanding on this Refinery project from $ 9 billion to $2.7billion today. This is a reflection of the credit worthiness of the Dangote Group,” Emefiele said.

The CBN governor also praised Nigerian banks, which, despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, decided to halt interest and principal payments on loans to the group to ensure this project got finished.

“Your excellences, please permit me at this junction to appreciate all the Nigerian banks who not only partnered with the project through effective financing but were keenly aware of the importance of the project to our country.

“They provided immense support and exceptional understanding, even when interest and principal payments were almost overdue. They were patient with the Dangote Group,” he added.

Emefiele also praised President Buhari for supporting the indigenous effort to drive domestic production and “ensure that Nigeria produces what we consume and that we consume what we produce.”

He added, “This refinery and petrochemical project is a testament to your vision for Nigeria, and it shows that regardless of where the world stands and what that world thinks, Nigeria can be self-sufficient in all products that we consume and at the same time export our excess output to the rest of the world.

“Your excellences, please permit me to recall the events leading to Nigeria’s eviction from the J.P. Morgan index in 2017 following their pessimism of Nigeria’s economic outlook and our ability to take charge of our fortunes. At that time in 2017, we explained the ongoing efforts to diversify our economy through import substitution and export promotion strategies to attain sustainability and self-sufficiency.

“Our friends that we spoke to abroad were very sceptical, saying that Nigeria typically crafts brilliant policies that could engender diversification but lacked the ability to fully implement them.

“Even when we insisted that under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, the ongoing project and his effort would be actively implemented to diversify the economy and make the country globally competitive, they still doubted us. Aside from enumerating our strategic efforts in agriculture and other critical sectors.”

He stated that one of the driving forces that helped actualize this dream was the scepticism of the foreign investors, who couldn’t fathom the idea of a single individual constructing a refinery of that size—something that is only possible when states collaborate.

“To them, our foreign friends, projects of this magnitude are usually undertaken by our sovereigns, not individuals, but like Nelson Mandela once said, “it seems impossible until it is done,” he reiterated.

He explained that with this project becoming a reality, a chunk of our foreign exchange would be saved.

“Under your leadership and the incoming administration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Nigeria will seize to import petroleum products, fertiliser, and petrochemicals that drain over $26 billion in foreign exchange in 2022.

“The self-sufficiency in refined petroleum, urea, and petro-polypropylene that Nigeria will achieve with this project is a strong testament to our leadership, dedication, focus, and commitment,” he noted.

He listed a few significant and instantaneous benefits of the refinery, which include the over 135,000 direct jobs that would be created and the 12,000 megawatts of electricity that would be generated.

“The takeoff of this refinery comes with numerous benefits to Nigeria. In the first instance, it will generate thousands of direct jobs, including over 135,000 permanent jobs and over 12,000 megawatts of electricity.

“More importantly, this project avails Nigeria with significant savings both in terms of foreign exchange and easing the physical burden on our federal government,” he stated.

The event also had in attendance President Gnassingbé Eyadéma of Togo, President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger Republic, and President Mahamat Déby of Chad.