Management of Dangote Industries Limited, has revealed that the oil refinery will start processing crude oil in the third quarters of 2022.
The chairman of the Dangote Industries, Aliko Dangote, who made this known in a briefing at the refinery plant site in Lagos, said that mechanical work on the refinery has been completed and “hopefully before the end of third quarter we should be in the market.”
According to the Africa’s richest man, the refinery will start with a processing capacity of 540 000 barrels per day, and “full production can start maybe, by the end of the year or beginning of 2023.”
The refinery is estimated to cost $19 billion to build. It has an installed capacity of 650 000 barrels per day with its output expected to be able to meet Nigeria’s fuel demands and turn the country which is Africa’s largest crude oil producer into an exporter of refined oil products.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) had previously provided a $300 million loan in support of the project.
During the briefing in Lagos, the AfDB President, Akinwumi Adesina, and Dangote discussed further possible collaboration to enable the latter to take advantage of the African free trade area agreement to expand his businesses to more African countries.
Dangote and Adesina also discussed setting up an industrial manufacturing corps in Africa. The industrial manufacturing corps according to the duo would be made up of the engineers that built the Dangote oil refinery. They explained that this will ensure that the skills gained can be shared with other countries in Africa and outside the continent.
