Dangote Refinery is a business inspiration to private sector operators - Tinubu

As efforts are being intensified for the imminent completion of the Dangote Refinery in Lagos, the project has been described as an inspiration to private sector operators in the country.

The Chief Executive Officer of Oando Plc, Mr. Wale Tinubu, who stated this during a guided tour of the project in Lagos with leading oil and gas downstream sector operators, said: “With what I have seen, the Dangote Refinery is for Nigeria and Africa.”

He stated that the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, deserved all the commendations in the world for the courage to build the world’s largest single train refinery in one of the most challenging business environment in the world.

Tinubu noted that he harboured no doubt within him that the refinery, upon completion, would meet the yearnings of Nigerian for product availability, and ultimately de-risk the petroleum sector.

The Oando boss said he felt a sense of pride for being able to witness such feat in the history of Nigeria, noting that: “It is more than just a refinery; it is a revolution; it is about what is possible in Africa by an African, and we are talking about a world class project being done a scale that the world is not used to.

“This is happening in an extremely challenging environment in which all of the infrastructure had to be built from the scratch with the attendant huge additional cost, the cost of capital being high, and the risk premium being highest and done with such spectacular precision. I think the world is not going to see many of these sorts of projects. I call it the eighth wonder of my own time.

“It is inspirational, and Dangote deserves all the accolades. This project is of strategic importance to the country and the continent. Nigeria has no functional refinery, and it has 200million people that consume 40million litres a day.

“There is nowhere in the world where you have a raw material for something and you do not beneficiate the product to a point where you can consume it in your country. We have been a complete and utter failure when it comes to that and it is taking a private individual to reverse that trend.

“It is an epoch for the country. I think what we should do is to encourage him to complete it. Success for him is a success for the country.”

In his remark, Dangote stated that the refinery is not only a project for Dangote, but also a project for Nigeria.

According to him, “Nigeria should be a leader in building facilities like these as a business initiative. This project will definitely put Nigeria on the map, and surely change the fortunes of Africa.”

He further disclosed that Dangote Group, apart from building a world class projects, is also dedicated to building capacity by resuscitating failing industries such as it did in the cement industry, adding that this has set the precedence in Nigeria.

The Dangote Refinery, upon completion, will refine 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, making it the single largest train in the world. This in turn will enable Nigeria to generate and save foreign exchange, which has been blamed for the country’s current economic woes. The project will also provide 90 megawatts of electricity through its multi-million-dollar sub-sea pipeline project.