The federal government has described Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals as a cornerstone of Nigeria’s ambition to build a trillion dollar economy, pledging deeper collaboration with the private sector to accelerate industrialization and job creation.
Minister of State for Industry John Enoh made the declaration after leading a delegation on a tour of the 700,000 barrel per day refinery, the petrochemicals complex and Dangote Fertilizer Limited in Lagos, describing the integrated complex as one of Africa’s most significant investments and a model for the industrial development Nigeria needs to achieve its economic goals. He said the refinery has become a powerful symbol of value addition and industrial competitiveness, crediting it with helping transform Nigeria from a major importer of refined petroleum products into an exporter serving international markets, including during recent global supply disruptions when Nigeria was able to export products to the Middle East.
Enoh dismissed concerns over the refinery’s single train configuration, noting that operations continued uninterrupted even during scheduled maintenance, and pledged that his ministry would continue engaging Dangote Industries through regular roundtables to address challenges facing manufacturers, particularly access to affordable long term financing. He praised Aliko Dangote as Nigeria’s foremost industrialist, whose contributions would be vital to achieving the country’s manufacturing targets under the newly launched Nigeria Industrial Policy, which aims to raise manufacturing’s share of GDP to about 20 percent by 2030 and 25 percent by 2035.
Speaking during the visit, Dangote urged the federal government to place industrialization at the centre of its economic strategy, arguing that no nation has achieved prosperity without a strong manufacturing base and that the greatest attraction for foreign investors is the success of domestic ones. He disclosed that Dangote Industries recently raised an unsecured bond at rates below Nigeria’s sovereign benchmark, calling it evidence of growing investor confidence in credible Nigerian private companies, and stressed that policy consistency matters more to investors than incentives. Reflecting on the refinery project, which he described as the biggest business risk of his life given the skepticism it faced from financiers, Dangote said the facility will eventually account for about 10 percent of United States refining capacity and consume roughly 2.5 percent of globally traded crude oil once at full capacity.
