Dangote Refinery, NNPCL Will Work Together, ‘Make Nigerians Proud’ — Dangote

President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, says his company will deepen cooperation with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) to strengthen operations at the Dangote Refinery and deliver wider benefits to Nigerians.

Dangote spoke to journalists on Saturday during the tour of the refinery by NNPC’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, outlining plans for collaboration, potential upstream partnerships, and opportunities for public investment in the project.

The billionaire businessman emphasised that both organisations share a common objective of advancing Nigeria’s energy and industrial capacity.

“I think the sky is the limit and we [NNPC and Dangote Refinery] will cooperate and also make sure that we work together to make sure that we make Nigerians proud,” he said.

Responding to questions on key and additional areas of cooperation beyond the expansion of the refinery, Dangote said discussions are ongoing on possible joint ventures across the value chain.

“Most likely, depending on our own discussions with them, we will partner with them, maybe in some of the upstream. They, too, will partner with us here because here is not a refinery. It’s an industrial hub,” he said.

READ ALSO: Dangote Hosts NNPCL CEO Ojulari At Refinery, Unveils Port Expansion Plans

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Highlighting the national ownership dimension of the project, Dangote noted that NNPC holds a minority stake in the refinery on behalf of citizens.

“They are holding 7.25 per cent of the shares that we have here… and they are holding that on behalf of Nigerians,” he said.

The billionaire added that plans are underway to broaden participation by allowing individuals to invest directly.

“Individually, Nigerians too will have an opportunity… in the next maximum four or five months, they will actually be able to buy their shares,” Dangote said.

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According to him, investors will also be given flexibility in how they receive returns.

“People will have a choice either to get their dividends in naira or to get their dividends in dollars because we earn dollars,” he said.

He noted that new industrial projects within the complex, including production of linear alkylbenzene used in detergents, are expected to position the facility as a continental supplier.

“That raw material for detergent will be sufficient for the entire African continent… and we will deliver all this in the next 30 months,” he added.

“The expansion of the plant is in hand, which means that we will double the capacity… leveraging all common facilities… which means replication will be coming at a much lower capex,” he said.

Speaking at the event, Ojulari said Nigerians should appreciate the leadership behind the project, noting what he called the “audacity” required to deliver a refinery of such magnitude.

“Nigerians, we should be grateful for the leadership and the inspiration of Alhaji [Aliko Dangote] and the Dangote Group for what my colleague called the audacity to embark on such a huge project,” he said.

Ojulari said seeing the facility firsthand provided a clearer perspective on its sophistication.

“There’s nothing like being here physically to actually see things for yourself. What we are seeing here is what I call the frontline of world-class technology,” he said.

According to him, the initial concerns about the refinery’s single-train configuration had been allayed after observing its architecture and built-in redundancies.

“Coming here and seeing the architecture of the plant and the redundancy that has been given… you see that despite being a single train, it has an incredibly high availability,” Ojulari said.

The NNPC boss explained that the refinery leverages advanced digital, artificial intelligence, and mechanical systems, enabling it to benefit from global best practices.

“This plant has now been tested to its full capacity, above its full capacity… seeing it live, the parameters we are seeing are live parameters,” he said, adding that “every Nigerian should be proud that such an edifice is actually in Nigeria.”