Aliko Dangote Urges FG to Penalise Inactive Refinery License Holders
- Aliko Dangote, founder and president of the Dangote Group, urged the NMDPRA to either revoke licences for inactive refineries or penalise their holders annually.
- He highlighted the challenges posed by powerful interests in the petroleum sector and called for increased refinery construction across Africa to reduce dependency on imports.
- Minister Heineken Lokpobiri emphasised the government's efforts to support refiners and position Nigeria as the refining hub for West Africa
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The founder and president/chief executive of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, urged the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) on Tuesday to either revoke licences for dormant refineries or penalise licence holders annually.
Source: Getty Images
Speaking at the NMDPRA and S&P Global Commodity Insights-organised West African Refined Fuel Conference in Abuja, Dangote stated that the government and NMDPRA are responsible for encouraging others to construct refineries.
“I think encouraging other people to build refineries is the job of the NMDPRA and also the government. So, NMDPRA, I rely on your leadership to make sure we encourage those people who have collected licences to work with you.
“And I believe anybody who collected these licences from you and they are not using it, either you cancel them or you put a penalty on a yearly basis so that they will return the licence or they will build those refineries,” Mr. Dangote said.
Powerful interests that control the petroleum value chain throughout the continent are threatened by the construction of a refinery, he claimed in a premium Times report.
“Across many African countries, this sector has historically been a major avenue for corruption and rent extraction. When you build a refinery and disrupt that system, you are not just innovating, you are threatening powerful interests that will seriously fight back,” he added.
He added that Nigeria has made a historic transition to being a net exporter of urea, polypropylene, and refined petroleum products.
“With our Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) production of 2,500 tons per day, we are working to encourage more homes to increase LPG utilisation. And we are just getting started. Very soon, the refinery will be listed to give all Nigerians an opportunity to become shareholders.
“We are open to partnerships with African governments, private investors, and regional institutions. Our vision is simple but ambitious: Africa should refine all the petroleum products it consumes, right here on African soil,” he said.
In response to worries about monopoly and domination in Nigeria's refining industry, he emphasised that many people who have the resources to support Nigeria's development instead prefer to invest their money overseas and criticise from the sidelines.
Source: Getty Images
Petroleum minister reacts
In his speech, Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister for State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), emphasised the government's strategic initiative to assist refiners, marketers, and regulators in establishing a favourable climate for smooth regional trade.
He claimed that President Bola Tinubu's audacious decision to eliminate the petroleum product subsidy, which aims to spur investment and growth in the downstream industry, reflects this vision.
Dangote refinery to become world’s 6th largest
Legit.ng reported that Africa’s largest oil refinery, the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery, is set to become the sixth-largest refinery globally.
The refinery located in Lekki is currently going through a modification process to upgrade it from 650,000 barrels per day to 700,000 barrels per day by the end of 2025.
The Dangote refinery is currently the 7th largest refinery in the world.
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Source: Legit.ng
