Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has dismissed claims that his dominance in cement and petroleum amounts to a monopoly, insisting that the Nigerian economy needs more players with the scale and resources to compete.
Speaking about the $20 billion Dangote Refinery in a video, he argued that profitability is essential for survival in capital-intensive industries.
“If we don’t make money, nobody will come into this business. Then you end up with only one supplier. We don’t want to be a monopoly; we want other players in the business. But other players cannot come to a soccer field and want to play cricket, you will wound somebody.”, Dangote said.
Dangote also recalled how his foray into cement was triggered by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who asked him to address Nigeria’s dependence on cement imports. Although his initial plan to build a factory in Benue State was opposed by the community, he eventually established the Obajana plant in Kogi State, now Africa’s largest cement facility.
On the challenges facing Nigeria’s fuel imports, he described systemic corruption that drains resources. “The majority of those fuel-importing ships, when they come, don’t discharge all. The person checking is collecting a salary of N100,000, so it’s easy for him to accept an envelope of $10,000 and sign whatever documents you give him,” he revealed.
According to him, NNPC’s refining model is unsustainable. While the Dangote Refinery produces 54% gasoline from crude, NNPC yields only 18%, mostly low-value fuel oil. “The more they operate, the more money they lose,” he said.
Dangote further rejected claims by the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) that his refinery lacks capacity. “If we don’t have the capacity, why are we exporting? It’s the same way they used to kill textiles that they want to use to kill us,” he added.
What you should know
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, is the founder of the Dangote Group and the driving force behind the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos, the largest single-train refinery in the world.
With a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, the refinery began operations in 2024 and was designed to drastically cut Nigeria’s reliance on imported petroleum products. The project is expected to save the country up to $25 billion annually in foreign exchange and create thousands of jobs across the value chain.
Nairametrics previously reported that the billionaire’s refinery achieved a major milestone by exporting its first shipment of petrol to the United States. The cargo, totaling around 320,000 barrels, was transported on the tanker Gemini Pearl and discharged at Sunoco’s Linden, New Jersey facility. The shipment was sold by global trader Vitol, which purchased the cargo from Mocoh Oil, Dangote’s export partner.
