Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man and President of the Dangote Group, has proposed selling the Dangote Refinery to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) to counter allegations of monopoly in the industry.
In an exclusive interview with Premium Times, Dangote expressed his willingness to sell, stating that if NNPCL takes over, the monopoly accusations would be invalid.
“Let them (NNPCL) buy me out and run the refinery the best way they can. They have labelled me a monopolist. That’s an incorrect and unfair allegation, but it’s OK. If they buy me out, at least, their so-called monopolist would be out of the way,” Dangote said.
This offer follows claims by the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, who alleged that the Dangote refinery had requested the regulator to stop issuing import licenses to other marketers, aiming to be the sole fuel supplier in Nigeria.
Ahmed stated, “We cannot rely heavily on one refinery to feed the nation, because Dangote is requesting that we should suspend or stop importation of all petroleum products, especially AGO, and direct all marketers to the refinery, that is not good for the nation in terms of energy security. And that is not good for the market, because of monopoly.”
Ahmed also raised concerns about the quality of the refinery’s products, saying, “In terms of quality, currently the AGO quality in terms of sulphur is the lowest as far as the West African requirement of 50 ppm is concerned. Dangote refinery and some modular refineries, like Waltersmith refinery and Aradel refinery, they are producing between 650 to 1,200ppm. So, in terms of quality, their product is much more inferior to the imported quality.”
Addressing these challenges, Dangote told Premium Times that his friends and associates had cautioned him about investing billions of dollars in the Nigerian economy.
He reflected, “As you probably know, I am 67 years old, in less than three years, I will be 70. I need very little to live the rest of my life. I can’t take the refinery or any other property or asset to my grave. Everything I do is in the interest of my country.”
He reiterated his readiness to sell, saying, “This refinery can help in resolving the problem but it does appear some people are uncomfortable that I am in the picture. So I am ready to let go, let the NNPC buy me out, run the refinery. At least the country will have high-quality products and create jobs.”
The Dangote Refinery, which began operations last year after a prolonged construction period, has a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day. It aims to reduce Nigeria’s reliance on foreign fuel imports and conserve foreign exchange.
