Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele, has disclosed that Dangote Group has repaid close to 70 percent of the loans the company took to build Dangote Petrochemical Refinery.
The mega 650,000 barrel per day capacity refinery in Lagos was commissioned on Monday by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The President of Ghana, Ado Kufo and other West African leaders also graced the epoch-making ceremony of the largest refinery in Africa.
President Buhari said during the commissioning that the refinery cost a whopping $18. 5 billion, part of which was borrowed from banks.
Aliko Dangote said during the commissioning that a larger part of the loans was sourced from Access Bank and Zenith Bank Plc to build the project, adding that other commercial banks in the country also contributed to ensure that the refinery becomes a reality.
Speaking at the event, Emefiele disclosed that a large part of the loan taken by Dangote from banks have been paid back.
Specifically, the CBN Governor said a total of $6.3 billion has already been paid, leaving a balance of $2.7 billion.
According to him, “The Dangote Group has paid down its total loans outstanding on this Refinery project from $ 9 billion to $ 2.7 billion today.
“This is a reflection of the credit worthiness of the Dangote Group,” Emefiele said.
The Dangote Refinery is the single largest of its kind globally, and is expected to meet Nigeria’s fuel requirement apart from generating foreign exchange for the country
The company, promoted by Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote said on Monday that its first fuel production will be released by next month.
