LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – Africa’s wealthiest man Aliko Dangote has shared insights into the substantial difficulties encountered in constructing the $19 billion refinery facility.
In a recent interview with CNN’s Eleni Giokos, Dangote revealed that the challenges he faced were so significant that, had he been aware of them in advance, he might have reconsidered the project.
Despite gaining extensive experience through the refinery’s development, the hurdles were more formidable than anticipated.
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Dangote also pointed out a broader issue affecting the continent: the lack of new refining facilities built by African governments over the past 35 years attributing this to the lucrative business of fuel imports that benefits certain groups.
He asserted that foreign aid and investments alone will not develop Africa; the continent’s growth must come from within.
Dangote shared that before construction could commence, they had to dredge over 65 million tonnes of sand.
The billionaire also mentioned that he and his team managed the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractors themselves due to the initial challenges they faced.
He emphasized that many doubted the project’s success, including individuals who tried to discourage him.
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When asked if he would have started the project had he known the difficulties involved,
he said: “ Actually, yes. If I’m going to do it now, I will do it better. Because I’ve learned from experience. But if I knew what I was going to go through, I wouldn’t have tried.”
He explained that he had been warned against embarking on such a massive project but that he thought they were only trying to discourage him.
“They did, but I thought they were just trying to discourage me. I’ve learned that there are other countries in Africa, all the African countries that have been trying to build refineries, they have not been able to. There has not been a refinery in the last 35 years.
“There are so many issues. I can’t count them, but there are so many. It’s not only money, political will, and also people who are benefiting from this whole stuff of importing petroleum products into Africa are actually discouraging those governments from building a refinery.“
He added that obtaining loans would have been nearly impossible due to the weakness of local banks and the reluctance of international banks to support such ventures.
He emphasized the broader vision of industrializing the continent and creating a more connected Africa.
“But we have to make sure we focus and say, look, we are the only ones that can deliver. We Africans are the only people that can develop Africa. If we’re waiting for foreigners or foreign investors to come and develop Africa, it will never happen,” he stated.On what’s next for the company, he added: “We will keep looking at the next opportunities: petrochemicals, upstream, we will look at those opportunities and keep flying. The sky is the limit.”
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He explained that the nearby fertilizer complex had a capacity of 3 million tonnes, emphasizing that he felt a great sense of accomplishment in successfully completing the construction of the Dangote refinery.
“I feel very proud as an African doing this. Nobody ever expected us to pull this through. A lot of people had given up. But we’ve been able to deliver. Now it (the project) is about $19 billion, almost $19 billion.
“And we had to become an engineering, procurement, and construction contractor. So all the others are actually just subcontractors. So we built it (on our own),” he added.