When Nigerian entrepreneur Aliko Dangote built his huge, 600,000 barrel/day state-of-the-art oil refinery, he seemed to have started a very good trend for achieving African self-sufficiency in petroleum products. African countries, oil producers included, have been importing all their refined petroleum products. This is changing rapidly as more countries construct their own oil refineries. Below are only the most recently launched or completed projects.
Ethiopia: On Oct. 5, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed laid the foundation stone of a $2.5 billion Gode oil refinery in the Somali Regional State, to process crude oil from the Hilala oil field. It is being developed by China’s Golden Concord Group Limited (GCL) in partnership with Ethiopian Investment Holdings. The project also includes a fertilizer plant in partnership with Nigeria’s Dangote Group, with the capacity of 3 million tonnes per year of urea fertilizer.
Ivory Coast: On Oct. 1, Ivory Coast Prime Minister Robert Beugré Mambé officially launched construction work on a $7 billion diesel hydrodesulfurization (HDS) complex, with a capacity of 170,000 barrels per day. The project will go into operation in 2029 and be operated by the Ivorian Refining Company (SIR). Financing was arranged through the U.S.-based Yaatra Ventures; the technology is from Honeywell UOP.
Senegal: The national refining company, SAR, announced on Oct. 4 that it will commence construction of a new, $5 billion oil refinery next year. It is still seeking $2-5 billion in investment. Offers have been made by China, Türkiye, and South Korea, all of which have the capacity to build refineries. The refinery will have a capacity of 75,000 barrels a day. The crude will come from Senegal’s offshore Sangomar oil and gas field.
Ghana: Construction of the Jomoro Petroleum Project has begun with a $12 billion oil refinery](https://constructionreviewonline.com/construction-projects/construction-commences-on-massive), which will eventually become a West African Petroleum hub costing as much as $60 billion. This will include a 300,000 barrel/day refinery and extensive storage and port facilities. It is being developed by TCP-UIC Consortium, which includes Touchstone Capital Group Holdings Ltd., UIC Energy Ghana Ltd., China Wuhan Engineering Co. Ltd., and China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Co. Ltd.
Angola: On Sept. 1, Angola’s President João Lourenço inaugurated the Cabindaoil refinery with an initial capacity of 30,000 b/d. In 2026, capacity will increase to 60,000 b/d. The facility is owned by the state oil company, Sonangol, in partnership with U.K. asset manager Gemcorp, which holds a 90% stake in the project. Angola is Africa’s largest oil producer and plans to build a pipeline to landlocked Zambia, reports S&P Global.
While Africa is building state-of-the-art refineries, there have not been any new refineries built in Europe or North America in decades. In fact some U.S. petroleum has been refined in Dangote’s Nigerian refinery with the products being shipped back to the U.S.
