By Ogaga Ariemu
Aliko Dangote, the owner of the $20 billion Dangote Refinery, has blamed beneficiaries of fuel importation in other African countries for the absence of new refineries in the continent in the past 35 years.
Dangote disclosed this statement during a recent conversation with CNN’s reporter, Eleni Giokos, at his refinery in Lagos, Nigeria.
According to Dangote, other reasons for the absence of new refineries in Africa include a lack of loan facilities for investors, attributed to weak financial institutions among others.
“There are other countries in Africa who have been trying to build refineries but have been unable to. There has not been a new refinery in Africa in the last 35 years.
“There are so many issues regarding this such as money, political will, and also people who are benefitting from this whole system of importing petroleum products into Africa are discouraging their governments from building a refinery.
“Also, they won’t get loans anyway because they don’t have very strong banks. The international banks will not support anything like this,” Dangote said.
In April 2024, Dangote Refinery commenced the supply of diesel and aviation jet fuel to the Nigerian market months after it was commissioned last year.
The development comes as the Secretary-General of the African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO), Omar Farouk Ibrahim said 75 percent of crude oil produced in Africa is exported to other countries.
