Billionaire Aliko Dangote has announced his plan to make his $20 billion Petrochemical Refinery in Lagos worlds’ largest by increasing production from its current 650, 000 barrel per day to 1.4 million per day.
Currently, the Jamnagar Refinery in India, with 1,240,000 barrels per day, is the largest refinery in the world. But the President of Dangote Group said the Indian Refinery will be toppled soon with the ongoing Dangote Refinery expansion.
The businessman was recently accused by the National Union of Petroleum Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG of importing Indians into the country, to take over jobs meant for Nigerians. The company has denied the allegation.
One of the top executives in the Refinery is an Indian man, Devakumar V.G Edwin who holds the position of Vice President responsible for the Group’s Oil & Gas business, which includes the refinery.
Edwin previously served as Group chief executive officer of Dangote Cement Plc and has a long history with the company since joining in 1992.
Dangote however did not give a timeline for his ambitious plan, he said the focus now is to cater for Africa’s requirements.
The Africa’s Richest Man made the announcement in Lagos on Sunday, few days after Bloomberg announced that he retained his position as the Continent’s number one Billionaire with a combined wealth of over $30 billion. He’s now the 75th richest man in the world.
According to the publication, Dangote’s fortunes rose by $2.25 billion to $30.3 billion as of October 24, making him the only African among top 100 world billionaires.
According to him, the facility will also expand the production of polypropylene from 900,000 metric tonnes to 2.4 million metric tonnes per annum.
“We are expanding the Dangote Petroleum Refinery from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day.
“Upon completion, this will make it the largest refinery in the world, surpassing the Jamnagar Refinery in India,” he stated.
Meanwhile, analysts insist that his surging fortune may not be unconnected with a period of aggressive expansion by his flagship company, Dangote Industries subsidiaries. Just recently, Dangote Cement, one of his subsidiaries, officially launched operations in Attingué, Côte d’Ivoire.
The new plant, which spans 50 hectares, boasts a production capacity of 3 million tonnes of cement annually, cementing Dangote’s dominance in Africa’s construction materials market.
Back in Nigeria, the Dangote Refinery in lagos has establisehd itself as the mjor player in the nation’s energy sector.
The $20 billion refinery, inaugurated in May 2023 by the late President Muhammadu Buhari, began production in January 2024 after overcoming crude supply challenges. The refinery, with a 650,000-barrel-per-day capacity, is one of the largest single-train facilities in the world and sits on 2,635 hectares of land in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria’s economic powerhouse.
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