LAGOS – Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings are set for a major uplift as the Dangote Group’s new refinery gears up for substantial exports. Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Group, announced that the 650,000 barrels per day facility has ambitious Dangote Refinery export plans. He shared these significant developments during a courtesy visit to Abubakar Dantsoho, Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), in Lagos.
A key part of this plan involves exporting 16,000 tonnes of fertiliser daily within the next two years. Dangote quantified the impact: “When you talk about 16,000 tonnes of fertiliser, it’s about $6.5 million to $7 million in revenue that will be coming into the country daily.” This daily revenue powerfully underscores the refinery’s support for Nigeria’s economy.
Petrochemicals: Expanding the Dangote Refinery Export Portfolio
Beyond fertiliser, the Dangote Refinery is also preparing to export a range of petrochemical products. Shipments of coal and polypropylene are scheduled to commence in just a few weeks. Dangote confirmed, “In the next couple of weeks, we will start exporting coal out of Nigeria. The refinery operations will not export less than 25 million tonnes of various products.”
He provided further specifics on polypropylene, a versatile plastic raw material. “We will also be exporting about 600,000 to 700,000 metric tonnes of polypropylene. So when you are talking about export, we are going to be very big.” This aggressive Dangote Refinery export strategy will powerfully reinforce Nigeria’s non-oil revenue streams. It will also markedly improve the nation’s balance of trade.
NPA Confirms Strong Vessel Traffic, Urges Collaboration
Abubakar Dantsoho, the NPA Managing Director, highlighted the operational successes already visible. He noted that the Naira-for-crude policy, introduced in October 2024, is yielding positive results concerning port activity. Dantsoho reported that the NPA currently manages 56 to 57 vessels each month. This figure already surpasses the 600 vessels per year initially projected by Dangote’s team for their operations. “If you do 56 or 57 vessels in 12 months, you will see that we are already doing bigger than what they projected,” he stated, illustrating the current high activity levels.
Dantsoho also underscored the vital importance of inter-agency collaboration for sustained national economic benefits. He added, “If all agencies of government can collaborate and be on the same dashboard, then efficiencies in other sectors of the economy will also be witnessed.”
By Kayode Ojo
