The Dangote Group has announced plans to more than double the production capacity of its fertilizer plant as part of a broader strategy to export to other African countries and meet regional demand.
The Chief Strategy Officer at Dangote Industries Ltd., Aliyu Suleiman, disclosed this on Thursday during an event in Abuja.
“There’s a plan to more than double the fertilizer production capacity and to also invest in other areas of fertilizer, so that all the fertilizer needs of Nigeria and other African countries can be met by the group,” Suleiman was quoted by Bloomberg as saying.
The $2.5 billion plant is Africa’s largest granulated-urea fertilizer complex and currently has the capacity to produce 3 million tons a year of crop nutrients.
The group also plans to expand its 650,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery, “as the economics dictate,” and will continue to invest in petrochemicals, Suleiman said.
Since the refinery started operating in January last year, it has reduced the prices of petroleum products by at least $50 per ton, benefiting consumers, he said.
“Share has been taken by the refinery from refineries across the world, from shipping lines across the world, and a lot of that value is now accruing to Nigeria,” Suleiman said.
What you should know
Last month, Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, announced plans to list the Nigerian crude oil refinery by the end of 2026 and the urea plant this year.
Also, the Dangote Refinery earlier announced plans to rely entirely on Nigerian crude oil by the end of 2025, potentially displacing hundreds of thousands of barrels of imported crude daily.
“We expect some of the long-term contracts will expire,” vice president at Dangote Industries, Devakumar Edwin said in an interview at the sprawling site. “Personally, and as a company, we expect that before the end of the year we can transition 100% to local crude.”
- Dangote sold the idea of the massive plant as a way for Nigeria, the top oil producer on the continent, to stop sending barrels to Europe only to be refined and shipped back as costly imports — a process rife with corruption.
- The gradual ramp-up of the refinery has already made Nigeria a net exporter of petroleum products, with room to go before reaching capacity. Still, the effort required large quantities of overseas crude after domestic traders failed to meet demand.
- In May 2023, Africa’s largest oil refinery, the Dangote Refinery, was commissioned in Nigeria, with hopes that it would help alleviate the country’s chronic fuel shortages.
During a recent high-level visit to the state-of-the-art facility, which has a processing capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E. Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, described the refinery as a beacon of hope for Africa’s future and a powerful testament to the potential of the private sector in driving regional industrialisation.
