Aliko Dangote, Chairman of the Dangote Group, announced at the Afreximbank Annual Meetings in Nassau that his company has repaid $2.4 billion of the $5.5 billion loan taken for constructing its $19 billion refinery. The 650,000 barrels-per-day facility is seen as a strategic reserve for Nigeria.
“We borrowed the money based on our balance sheet,” Dangote stated. “I think we borrowed just over $5.5 billion. But we paid also a lot of interest as we went along because the project was delayed due to a lack of land and the sand-filling took a long time. Almost five years or so we didn’t do anything.”
According to Dangote, the company has successfully managed the financial aspects of the project: “We started in 2018. We borrowed that much. We have, of course, paid interest and some principal, about $2.4 billion. We’ve done very well. We now have only about $2.7 billion left to be paid.”
He also revealed the formidable opposition faced during the project’s development, noting, “I knew that there would be a fight. But I didn’t know that the mafia in oil, they are stronger than the mafia in drugs. I can tell you that. Yes, it’s a fact.”
Due to challenges, the refinery has postponed the supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to mid-July from the initially scheduled June 2024. However, it began supplying diesel and aviation fuel in April, months after its commissioning last May.
The Dangote Refinery is expected to enhance Nigeria’s energy security and reduce reliance on imported fuels, marking a significant milestone in the nation’s industrial and economic landscape.
