The $2 billion Dangote petrochemical plant in Lagos will position Nigeria as one of Africa’s largest petrochemical hubs, when the plant fully becomes operational.
It will also boost non-oil export earnings for the country.
These were the words of the company’s Group President, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, at the 2022 Zenith Bank International Trade Seminar on Non-oil Export in Lagos.
The 900,000 metric tonnes per annum capacity petrochemical plant, which is being built alongside the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Petroleum Refinery, will produce polypropylene for the growing plastic processing downstream industries in Africa and other parts of the world.
Dangote said the refinery and the petrochemical plants would ensure petroleum products are in sufficient supply in Nigeria and beyond.
The foremost industrialist stressed the need for government to unlock the potential of petrochemical export by completing the OB3 pipeline to make gas available to manufacturers.
“There is need to prioritise financing gas infrastructure, gas allocation to the domestic market and adjustment of fiscal framework to make supply of gas to domestic market attractive for oil companies,” he said.
Dangote said the refinery, which is the largest single train greenfield petroleum refinery in the world, is at an advanced stage of completion.
According to him, on completion, the plant will export more than 8 million tonnes of petroleum products annually, after meeting domestic consumption, while about 900,000 tonnes of polypropylene will also be expected from the petrochemical plant.
The business mogul said the recently inaugurated 3 million metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) fertiliser plant has “commenced export to India, North America and Latin America. At steady state, it will export 2 million tonnes per annum, after meeting domestic consumption”.
He explained that Dangote Fertiliser, regarded as the second largest urea fertiliser plant in the world, is leveraging Nigeria’s abundant gas reserves as raw material for the production of urea. Stressing the need for Nigeria to encourage non-oil export, Dangote said the nation’s non-oil export is quite low, compared to other African countries’ top oil producers.
“This exposes the economy to oil price and production risks. Export opportunities abound in Nigeria, but there are two main routes: import substitution and export-oriented industries.”