Africa and Nigeria’s richest man, Aliko Dangote is close to completing his multi-billion-dollar petrochemical refinery project. This information was revealed by Nigerian philanthropist and business tycoon, Femi Otedola, after he visited the site for the projects at the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos State, Nigeria. Otedola who went further to note that the refinery is 75% near completion, applauded Dangote Industries Limited’s team for a great job and stated that the African richest man’s dream of refining locally would come to reality in no distant time. Also, Otedola who disclosed on his Instagram handle on Sunday, February 23, 2020, that a test-run of the fertilizer plant was conducted praised the plant which he described as the “8th wonder of the world.’’
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Yesterday, the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited did a test run of its Fertilizer plant which is the second-largest in the world after that of Qatar. Surely his dream of local refining is materializing as the 8th wonder of the world gradually evolves. Kudos to the entire Dangote Industries Limited team!
– Femi Otedola
Aside from the fact that the refinery is 75% complete, the petrochemical unit is 60% complete. Initially projected to be completed by 2020, the finish date for the project has been postponed to H1 2021. On completion and when it becomes fully operational, the Dangote Refinery is expected to be the biggest in the world with the capacity of processing 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day into refined petroleum products. Dangote’s project will equally help Nigeria become an oil refining and exporting country owing to the fact that the country’s refineries are presently not in good working condition. The completion of the project will also end Nigeria’s importation of refined crude from other regions of the continent or globe. With the capacity to produce 3.0 Million tonnes of Urea per year, the refinery is the second-largest fertilizer plant in the West Africa region.
Nigeria is set to double its refining capacity once Dangote’s project is operational, and will greatly help in meeting the ever-increasing demand for fuel in Nigeria while also saving the country the cost of importing crude. Lekki Free Trade Zone is strategic as the location for the refinery owing to the fact that it is along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean which will help in the easy transhipment of refined petroleum products from Nigeria to the global market, reducing the nation’s overreliance on imports. The refinery is estimated to cost about $18billion and is expected to produce diesel and Euro-V quality gasoline, as well as polypropylene and jet fuel.
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Job creation is a big advantage associated with the refinery project. About 4,000 direct and 145,000 indirect jobs will be created during different phases of the project. Local and international contractors with examples such as MAN, Turbo, Diesel, Honeywell UOP, Air Liquide Engineering & Construction, C&I Leasing, and Schneider Electric, are already beneficiaries of the project. Further, Nigeria’s high unemployment rate which is estimated to hit 33.5 percent in 2020 will diminish owing to the fact that the refinery is bent on employing the services of Nigerians especially the youth in handling different areas of the facility.
Sources
Nairametrics.com
Venturesafrica.com
Featured Image Source: The Guardian Nigeria
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