Nigeria’s Dangote Industries Ltd. announced that it plans to expand the refinery capacity from its current 650,000 barrels a day to 1.4 million bpd, transforming it from the world seventh largest to the world’s largest, displacing India’s Jamnagar Refinery. Dangote made the announcement on Oct. 27 on its X account following a press conference in Lagos. The expansion would enable the refining of Nigeria’s total oil production and create 65,000 jobs and open tremendous opportunities for local industries.
“The move underscores Africa’s ability to build and manage world-class infrastructure and reinforces regional self-sufficiency,” the refinery stated. In addition, polypropylene production will be increased from 900,000 metric tons to 2.4 million metric tons per annum. Polypropylene is a key feed stock for the production of plastics that are used for advanced manufacturing for making packaging industry products for the aerospace industry.
The company said over 85% of the workforce will be Nigerian.
Speaking at a press briefing on Nov. 23, Aliko Dangote, president of the Dangote Group, called on the holders of the other 30 refinery licenses in the country to join the push to make Nigeria Africa’s refining hub. “When Africa builds its own capacity, it builds its own destiny,” he said.
Beyond polypropylene, the refinery also produces aromatics and olefins—the chemical building blocks required for complex pharmaceutical production.
Nigerian pharmacist Yusuf Olanlokun told Business Day that Nigeria currently spends $1.1 billion annually on imported pharmaceuticals. He added that the Dangote refinery offers Nigeria the possibility to establish a fully developed pharmaceutical industry that could be on par with that of India and China, whicj are currently the world largest producers. Nigeria could become the pharmaceutical hub for West Africa. While the refinery will provide the necessary resources for the industry, Olanlokun emphasized the need to establish the necessary regulatory authority, financing and legal framework.
Olanlokun stressed: “This is about the health of 200 million Nigerians…. Access to quality medicines should not depend on global supply shocks or exchange rate swings. The refinery gives us a platform. What remains is whether we have the discipline and political will to seize it.”
