Not just to lead it but also to accelerate it. We do this by building world-class companies that leverage the continent's natural resources to build prosperity. So we invest in businesses where both the raw materials and the markets are here in Africa. And in doing that we create jobs, we retain value within the continent and we also enable self-sufficiency within the continent.
If there is scarcity of polypropylene today, it will be worse than the scarcity of gasoline. You know why? Because all grains, all commodities are packed in polypropylene. But cement even is packed, 100% of it is in PP. Polypropylene, sugar is a PP, rice, flour, semolina, almost most of the things that you consume, they are packed there. Even this one that you see, the pasta, they're all packed. This is what they are using, okay, as raw material. So really this has actually brought in a lot of transformation.
Everybody uses detergents and people keep importing the raw, almost the finished material just to do the final detergent production and packaging here. So he has been focusing on how to utilize the raw material here and add value. So that is the primary driver for increasing the capacity of the petroleum refinery.
But the Dangote story does not stop at Nigeria's borders. As production ramped up, the refinery began to reshape regional and global trade flows. Exports now move across Africa and beyond.
Production ensures scale. The commercial function ensures that every molecule of petroleum product produced and every ton of whether urea or polypropylene is optimally monetized. At Dangote, the role goes beyond selling. It includes identifying demand pockets domestically here in Nigeria, in Africa and in the global markets. It includes ensuring realization reflects the true market value, not just the benchmark pricing. It includes building long-term relationships with industrial users, with distributors and governments.
Africa consumes 4.3 million barrels a day of petroleum products. But we produce only about 1.8 even with our refinery. So therefore, there's a lot of scope for us to expand capacity and to continue to meet the demand.
From jet fuel shipments influencing transatlantic supply to gasoline cargos reaching distant markets.
This is where the refinery becomes more than a Nigerian achievement. It becomes a market actor, a price influencer, a supply alternative, a key player in global energy trade.
Expanding across Africa and globally comes with real structural challenges. Some of the challenges that we've been able to identify are limited storage, port congestion, a land distribution bottleneck.
But now that there's enough capacity to refine products and make this product available within, of course those who have been in that business for long are not going to be very, very happy. But all that one can say is that change is happening. So as a business, we say that we gave people actually over 10 years notice that we are coming to the market.
For the first time, several countries' presidents, prime ministers, the ministries, they are contracting, please help, we are in dire straits for water, petroleum products. So we have not only been able to meet the needs of Nigeria, now everybody in the sub-Saharan Africa has realized what a crucial role this refinery can play in sub-Saharan Africa.
And with planned expansion to 1.4 million barrels per day, its influence on global fuel markets is only expected to deepen. But perhaps the most powerful part of the story is not what the refinery is today. It's what it's becoming. The Dangote refinery was never designed as a static asset. It was built with scale in mind.
Plans are now underway to expand its capacity from 700,000 barrels per day to approximately 1.4 million barrels per day through the addition of a second refining train, more than double its output and positioning it to become the largest refinery ever constructed at a single location.
Given the success and the compelling business case of operating in Nigeria and Africa more broadly, we're going to double the capacity of the refinery to become the largest refinery, the most modern, the most automated, the most data-rich refinery in the world right here in Nigeria serving Nigeria and West Africa and then more broadly the African continent to drive clean fuels production and self-sufficiency. So, it's a huge vote of confidence in the current operation and then also testifies to the strength of the Nigerian economy and the compelling investment case.
At that scale, the refinery will not only meet domestic demand, it will redefine regional supply dynamics and exert even greater influence on global fuel markets. This is not expansion for capacity alone. It is expansion for relevance. And that relevance is already being felt in the aspect of human capital and local content development. A project designed not just for today's needs, but engineered for tomorrow's dominance.
I think what we're proving now during the supply disruption of the Middle East is that Dangote can supply. It will supply. We are operating at full capacity. We will prioritize Africa, but we do need strategic long-term offtake.
A refinery, however, is only as powerful as its ability to deliver. And Dangote's impact lies not only in refining, but in movement through road and through sea. Products are evacuated at scale through marine infrastructure and distributed across the country by expanding logistics network.
With the introduction of 4,000 CNG-powered trucks and a growing network of refueling stations, distribution is becoming more efficient, more cost-effective and more aligned with a cleaner energy future. This is not just logistics. It is system redesign.
Dangote's partnership strategy is highly intentional and value-driven, not just transactional. A partnership philosophy is to collaborate where it accelerates market access, scale or capability and maintain control where it protects margin and strategic positioning. We are focusing on the following partners depending on circumstances: distribution partners for rapid market penetration, trading partners for global reach in early stages, industrial partners for downstream integration, infrastructure partners.
Allow me again with a lot of humility and logistics. Allow me with a lot of humility make this announcement. For those of us asking for the restrooms or washrooms, the VVIPs just behind these containers, we have a VVIP restroom. You'll be guided by the protocols while you arrive there. Then behind this stand, we also have another washroom. Thank you.
This is the Dangote investment on the Epe axis of Lagos State. An investment of over $20 billion. The biggest private investment in Africa. Seated on a land mass of 2,635 hectares at the Dangote Industries Free Zone Enterprise. A project that once could only be imagined now stands firm as an economic game-changer.
The 650,000 barrels per day that we've done is the largest single train not only in Africa, in the world, you know, and we just wanted to make a point and which we have now achieved. A lot of people are very, very skeptical, they never ever even gave us the chance, but today we have actually proved a point despite all odds. And when I say despite all odds, I can spend a whole day telling you the challenges, the challenges that we face in this project. The most, I mean, there are the most challenges that I've faced in my life of doing business. I've been in business from '78 to date, that is 45 years.
We could have put it in the Middle East. At least a couple of countries were very keen to have our investment and we would have sourced the local crude and we would have been exporting and making good profits instead of investing. And as you know, our capital cost would have also been far lesser because of the lack of infrastructure here. We ended up buying almost 3,500 construction equipment which I would not have had to because we would have had contractors in the Middle East who are having all the equipment. I would not have had to develop a port facility to import my equipment because the facility is there. I would not have had to go and import equipment to even salvage my site because this was swamp. All swamp buggies I had to import. I would not have had to spend that money.
A land mass where one of the world's biggest dredging exercises occurred. 65 million cubic meters of sand dredged costing approximately €30 million euro. This masterpiece is the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Plant located in Dangote Industries Free Zone Enterprise, Epe, Lagos. A 650,000 barrel per day capacity plant. More than enough to meet Nigeria's petrol needs and enough to export.
Dangote Petroleum and Petrochemical Company developed a port constructed two keys with a load-bearing capacity of 25 tons per square meter to bring over-dimensional cargos close to the site directly. The jetty became ever so busy as it was one equipment after the other landing. Construction commenced in 2017.
Over 25,570 pieces of various equipment was brought to enhance the local capacity for site works as companies in country were unable to handle some portions of its requirements. To add to the current capacity in Nigeria, 340 cranes were brought to support the project.
The refinery complex is a mammoth project.
We started discussing with the licensors how we can do it larger and larger. When it came to 650,000 barrels, they said you cannot make a bigger refinery because there is no fabrication shop in the world who can handle bigger sized equipment. So we actually hit the engineering limits globally and that is why we stopped at 650,000 during the design and engineering stage.
With the largest single order of five SPMs anywhere in the world. The refinery has a self-sufficient marine facility with the ability for freight optimization. The operation of the refinery starts with the SPM, a single point mooring system anchored 25 km into the high sea. It supplies crude to the refinery through subsea pipelines that terminates here at the Dangote trestle. There are 16 of these tanks with each holding 120 million liters in capacity.
After water has been drained, it is transported to the crude day tanks. Onwards to this massive crude distillation unit. It is the height of a 40-story building and the weight of 320 adult elephants. Installing this massive equipment was no mean feat. It was a synergy between man and machine, science and human will. One out of many heavy equipment purpose-built for the Dangote refinery.
Out of the crude distillation tower comes unfinished products as light gases, naphtha, kerosene, light diesel and heavy diesel as well as atmospheric residue. This is the MS block where the gasoline blended components are further refined.
This is the mild hydrocracking unit, MHC, where the light and heavy diesel is cracked mildly in order for them to meet the premium market standard. And the atmospheric residue passes through this residual fluid catalytic cracking unit, the RFCC, where it is broken down. This is the RFCC reactor regenerator being delivered. It weighs 3,000 metric tons, the weight of 1,257 farm tractors. It is the heaviest piece of refinery steel structure in the world. It took 10 hours to deliver it from the jetty to the refinery site, about 12 km.
The RFCC produces a very important petrochemical precursor called propylene. The propylene is sent to this petrochemical block which is known as the polypropylene unit, PPU, where it is further refined and sent to this bagging unit ready to be bagged for supply.
The local production of polypropylene is abysmally low. In fact, we ourselves are one of the largest importers of PP raffia grade. And this refinery can produce 72 grades of polypropylene which means it is not just meeting all the requirements of the country locally, that's saving a lot of foreign exchange. Because everything you talk about is plastics, pipes, tanks. Look at it all around you, you'll see plastics. You can see this is a plastic, this is a plastic. So everything is a plastic. So they are just importing today the raw material. So it will be produced locally. So you save a lot of foreign exchange.
The plant also recovers sulfur through the sulfur recovery unit, SRU. Improving emission control is a key goal. This effluent treatment plant treats all liquid effluent streams generated within the refinery and part of the treated effluent is reused for DM water generation within the refinery. The effluent treatment plant comprises of the process effluent chain, contaminated rainwater treatment chain, sanitary effluent treatment chain and the spent caustic treatment chain. The Dangote refinery technology ensures there is zero discharge and there is sustainable preservation of the environment.
The refinery complex generates its own power. This 435 megawatt power plant in the refinery will be able to meet the total power requirement of Ibadan Disco and output covering the five states of Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Kwara and Ekiti.
We built 50,000 houses fully air-conditioned, running hot and cold water, water treatment plant which was distributed by piped in to all the houses, street lights, centralized sewage treatment plant and waste evacuation. Besides the polypropylene, all the products are sent to the trading facility storage. These storage tanks range from 30 million to 60 million capacity each. These products are dispatched to trucks via this gantry. The gantry has 98 loading arms and it can load both 33,000 liters to 66,000 liters supply trucks.
When we started producing, those who have been importing the products had decided that maybe if we come in and start selling the products locally, their well-established business will be disrupted for strange reasons. Because today if you are a trader and you are importing the product, instead of importing you're going to buy from us and sell, your business continues as it is but your life is even made easier. Instead of going and sourcing for products abroad, shipping it in, you're going to get it locally.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery can meet all of Nigeria's requirement of all petroleum liquid products 100%.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has employed over 30,000 Nigerian personnel on site and the current ratio of Nigerians to expatriates on the project is 93% Nigerians to 7% expatriates. And over 600 million man hours has been put in. A total of 900 Nigerian engineers are being trained in engineering, design and design of the refinery outside the country.
Everything you take, every statistic you take about this site, it's a global record. And at peak construction period, we had 70,000 people working in the site. And again pre-construction period this was the largest construction site in the world because we are also constructing the fertilizer plant beside this. So in terms of records, engineering-wise, construction-wise, we have created global records.
The company has since completed the training of 400 artisans selected from the host communities in the areas of masonry, carpentry, AC, electricians, plumbing, welding, metal works and auto mechanics.
The Dangote refinery and petrochemical plant is very serious about local content development. The refinery will create over 100,000 direct and indirect jobs and provide constant trainings for all its engineers. The Dangote refinery plant is a legacy project that will see Nigeria netting $21 billion per annum.
We have been progressing not only smoothly but if you see globally the rate of commissioning, the rate at which within this period within which a refinery is commissioned, we have been doing one of the best. I should thank God that things have been going so smoothly and in terms of quality our quality will be Euro 5. In fact the diesel we are producing is Euro 5, aviation jet the same. That is why our aviation jet is primarily going to Europe. And because we are producing the best quality products we are able to sell it overseas especially in the toughest of the markets.
Well, what I want to share with Nigerians is actually to show my personal gratitude and that of also the Dangote Group for all the assistance that we got from the president because he also set the pace by creating the Lekki Free Trade Zone as part of his dream. And also we want to thank most especially the governors Fashola, Governor Ambode because it was also during their period that we started and most especially Governor Sanwo-Olu because they have given us all the assistance that we're looking for. We thank all Nigerians for giving us the support which they are too numerous to mention.
This is the Dangote investment on the Epe axis of Lagos State. An investment of over $20 billion. The biggest private investment in Africa. Seated on a land mass of 2,635 hectares at the Dangote Industries Free Zone Enterprise. A project that once could only be imagined now stands firm as an economic game-changer.
The 650,000 barrels per day that we've done is the largest single train not only in Africa, in the world, you know, and we just wanted to make a point and which we have now achieved. A lot of people are very, very skeptical, they never ever even gave us the chance, but today we have actually proved a point despite all odds. And when I say despite all odds, I can spend a whole day telling you the challenges, the challenges that we face in this project. The most, I mean, they are the most challenges that I've faced in my life of doing business. I've been in business from '78 to date, that is 45 years.
We could have put it in the Middle East. At least a couple of countries were very keen to have our investment and we would have sourced the local crude and we would have been exporting and making good profits instead of investing. And as you know, our capital cost would have also been far lesser because of the lack of infrastructure here. We ended up buying almost 3,500 construction equipment which I would not have had to because we would have had contractors in the Middle East who are having all the equipment. I would not have had to develop a port facility to import my equipment because the facility is there. I would not have had to go and import equipment to even salvage my site because this was swamp. All swamp buggies I had to import. I would not have had to spend that money.
A land mass where one of the world's biggest dredging exercises occurred. 65 million cubic meters of sand dredged costing approximately €30 million euro. This masterpiece is the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Plant located in Dangote Industries Free Zone Enterprise in Beulei, Lagos. A 650,000 barrel per day capacity plant. More than enough to meet Nigeria's petrol needs and enough to export.
Dangote Petroleum and Petrochemical Company developed a port constructed two keys with a load-bearing capacity of 25 tons per square meter to bring over-dimensional cargos close to the site directly. The jetty became ever so busy as it was one equipment after the other landing. Construction commenced in 2017.
Over 25,570 pieces of various equipment was brought to enhance the local capacity for site works as companies in country were unable to handle some portions of its requirements. To add to the current capacity in Nigeria, 340 cranes were brought to support the project.
The refinery complex is a mammoth project.
We started discussing with the licensors how we can do it larger and larger. When it came to 650,000 barrels, they said you cannot make a bigger refinery because there is no fabrication shop in the world who can handle bigger sized equipment. So we actually hit the engineering limits globally and that is why we stopped at 650,000 during the design and engineering stage.
With the largest single order of five SPMs anywhere in the world. The refinery has a self-sufficient marine facility with the ability for freight optimization. The operation of the refinery starts with the SPM, a single point mooring system anchored 25 km into the high sea. It supplies crude to the refinery through subsea pipelines that terminates here at the Dangote trestle. There are 16 of these tanks with each holding 120 million liters in capacity.
After water has been drained, it is transported to the crude day tanks. Onwards to this massive crude distillation unit. It is the height of a 40-story building and the weight of 320 adult elephants. Installing this massive equipment was no mean feat. It was a synergy between man and machine, science and human will. One out of many heavy equipment purpose-built for the Dangote refinery.
Out of the crude distillation tower comes unfinished products as light gases, naphtha, kerosene, light diesel and heavy diesel as well as atmospheric residue. This is the MS block where the gasoline blended components are further refined.
This is the mild hydrocracking unit. Kindly, kindly once again, once again we request that those of us who are seated on chairs for the cabinet secretaries and principal secretaries, you are requested kindly to vacate from the protocol team. You are kindly requested to vacate kindly. Those of us who have taken chairs designated for the cabinet secretaries and principal secretaries, kindly you are requested to vacate those chairs. Or rather in another language is if you are not a cabinet secretary or principal secretary and you are sitting to a chair labeled cabinet secretary and principal secretary, we are requesting kindly you vacate. Vacate. That's it. Let's give the protocol team easy time.
Also those of us who have taken chairs for various service commanders, the Inspector General of Police, Director General Kenya Wildlife Service, Director General Kenya Coast Guard Service and the two Inspector Generals, kindly vacate their chairs. They are on their way joining us any moment from now. Thank you, studio.
This is the Dangote investment on the Epe axis of Lagos State. An investment of over $20 billion. The biggest private investment in Africa. Seated on a land mass of 2,635 hectares at the Dangote Industries Free Zone Enterprise. A project that once could only be imagined now stands firm as an economic game-changer.
The 650,000 barrels per day that we've done is the largest single train not only in Africa, in the world, you know, and we just wanted to make a point and which we have now achieved. A lot of people are very, very skeptical. They never ever even gave us the chance. But today we have actually proved a point despite all odds. And when I say despite all odds, I can spend a whole day telling you the challenges. The challenges that we face in this project. The most, I mean, there are the most challenges that I've faced in my life of doing business. I've been in business from '78 to date. That is 45 years.
We could have put it in the Middle East. At least a couple of countries were very keen to have our investment and we would have sourced the local crude and we would have been exporting and making good profits. Instead of investing and as you know, our capital cost would have also been far lesser because of the lack of infrastructure here. We ended up buying almost 3,500 construction equipment which I would not have had to because we would have had contractors in the Middle East who are having all the equipment. I would not have had to develop a port facility to import my equipment because the facility is there. I would not have had to go and import equipment to even salvage my site because this was swamp. All swamp buggies I had to import. I would not have had to spend that money.
A land mass where one of the world's biggest dredging exercises occurred. 65 million cubic meters of sand dredged costing approximately €300 million euro. This masterpiece is the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Plant located in Dangote Industries Free Zone Enterprise, Lagos. A 650,000 barrel per day capacity plant. More than enough to meet Nigeria's petrol needs and enough to export.
Dangote Petroleum and Petrochemical Company developed a port constructed two keys with a load-bearing capacity of 25 tons per square meter to bring over-dimensional cargos close to the site directly. The jetty became ever so busy as it was one equipment after the other landing. Construction commenced in 2017.
Over 25,570 pieces of various equipment was brought to enhance the local capacity for site works as companies in country were unable to handle some portions of its requirements. To add to the current capacity in Nigeria, 340 cranes were brought to support the project.
The refinery complex is a mammoth project.
We started discussing with the licensors how we can do it larger and larger. When it came to 650,000 barrels, they said you cannot make a bigger refinery because there is no fabrication shop in the world who can handle bigger sized equipment. So we actually hit the engineering limits globally and that is why we stopped at 650,000 during the design and engineering stage.
With the largest single order of five SPMs anywhere in the world. The refinery has a self-sufficient marine facility with the ability for freight optimization. The operation of the refinery starts with the SPM, a single point mooring system anchored 25 km into the high sea. It supplies crude to the refinery through subsea pipelines that terminates here at the Dangote Trestle. There are 16 of these tanks with each holding 120 million liters in capacity.
After water has been drained, it is transported to the crude day tanks. Onwards to this massive crude distillation unit.
Thank you. Thank you. Cabinet secretaries present, all protocol observed. We kindly plead and request those seated on chairs designated for cabinet secretaries and principal secretaries. Kindly we are requesting you allow our cabinet secretaries, high commissioners, ambassadors to have their seats.
We kindly and humbly request. I'm also being reminded. Nigeria to secure. Toeshma. Vivio studio. Kenya Revenue Authority. Thank you.
This is the Dangote investment on the Epe axis of Lagos State. An investment of over $20 billion. The biggest private investment in Africa. Seated on a land mass of 2,635 hectares at the Dangote Industries Free Zone Enterprise. A project that once could only be imagined now stands firm as an economic game-changer.
The 650,000 barrels per day that we've done is the largest single train not only in Africa, in the world, you know, and we just wanted to make a point and which we have now achieved. A lot of people are very, very skeptical, they never ever even gave us the chance, but today we have actually proved a point despite all odds. And when I say despite all odds, I can spend a whole day telling you the challenges, the challenges that we face in this project. The most, I mean, they are the most challenges that I've faced in my life of doing business. I've been in business from '78 to date, that is 45 years.
We could have put it in the Middle East. At least a couple of countries were very keen to have our investment and we would have sourced the local crude and we would have been exporting and making good profits instead of investing. And as you know, our capital cost would have also been far lesser because of the lack of infrastructure here. We ended up buying almost 3,500 construction equipment which I would not have had to because we would have had contractors in the Middle East who are having all the equipment. I would not have had to develop a port facility to import my equipment because the facility is there. I would not have had to go and import equipment to even salvage my site because this was swamp. All swamp buggies I had to import. I would not have had to spend that money.
A land mass where one of the world's biggest dredging exercises occurred. 65 million cubic meters of sand dredged costing approximately €30 million euro. This masterpiece is the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Plant located in Dangote Industries Free Zone Enterprise, Epe, Lagos. A 650,000 barrel per day capacity plant. More than enough to meet Nigeria's petrol needs and enough to export.
Dangote Petroleum and Petrochemical Company developed a port constructed two keys with a load-bearing capacity of 25 tons per square meter to bring over-dimensional cargos close to the site directly. The jetty became ever so busy as it was one equipment after the other landing. Construction commenced in 2017.
Over 25,570 pieces of various equipment was brought to enhance the local capacity for site works as companies in country were unable to handle some portions of its requirements. To add to the current capacity in Nigeria, 340 cranes were brought to support the project.
The refinery complex is a mammoth project.
We started discussing with the licensors how we can do it larger and larger. When it came to 650,000 barrels, they said you cannot make a bigger refinery because there is no fabrication shop in the world who can handle bigger sized equipment. So we actually hit the engineering limits globally and that is why we stopped at 650,000 during the design and engineering stage.
With the largest single order of five SPMs anywhere in the world. The refinery has a self-sufficient marine facility with the ability for freight optimization. The operation of the refinery starts with the SPM, a single point mooring system anchored 25 km into the high sea. It supplies crude to the refinery through subsea pipelines that terminates here at the Dangote Trestle. There are 16 of these tanks with each holding 120 million liters in capacity.
After water has been drained, it is transported to the crude day tanks. Onwards to this massive crude distillation unit. It is the height of a 40-story building and the weight of 320 adult elephants. Installing this massive equipment was no mean feat. It was a synergy between man and machine, science and human will. One out of many heavy equipment purpose-built for the Dangote refinery.
Out of the crude distillation tower comes unfinished products as light gases, naphtha, kerosene, light diesel and heavy diesel as well as atmospheric residue. This is the MS block where the gasoline blended components are further refined.
This is the mild hydrocracking unit, MHC, where the light and heavy diesel is cracked mildly in order for them to meet the premium market standard. And the atmospheric residue passes through this residual fluid catalytic cracking unit, the RFCC, where it is broken down. This is the RFCC reactor regenerator being delivered. It weighs 3,000 metric tons, the weight of 1,257 farm tractors. It is the heaviest piece of refinery steel structure in the world. It took 10 hours to deliver it from the jetty to the refinery site about 12 km.
The RFCC produces a very important petrochemical precursor called propylene. The propylene is sent to this petrochemical block which is known as the polypropylene unit, PPU, where it is further refined and sent to this bagging unit ready to be bagged for supply.
The local production of polypropylene is abysmally low. In fact, we ourselves are one of the largest importers of PP raffia grade. And this refinery can produce 72 grades of polypropylene which means it is not just meeting all the requirements of the country locally, thus saving a lot of foreign exchange. Because everything you talk about is plastics, pipes, tanks. Look at it all around you will see plastics. You can see this is a plastic, this is a plastic. So everything is a plastic. So they are just importing today the raw material. So it will be produced locally. So you save a lot of foreign exchange.
The plant also recovers sulfur through the sulfur recovery unit, SRU. Improving emission control is a key goal. This effluent treatment plant treats all liquid effluent streams generated within the refinery and part of the treated effluent is reused for DM water generation within the refinery. The effluent treatment plant comprises of the process effluent chain, contaminated rainwater treatment chain, sanitary effluent treatment chain and the spent caustic treatment chain. The Dangote refinery technology ensures there is zero discharge and there is sustainable preservation of the environment.
The refinery complex generates its own power. This 435 megawatt power plant in the refinery will be able to meet the total power requirement of Ibadan Disco, an output covering the five states of Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Kwara, and Ekiti.
We built 50,000 houses fully air-conditioned, running hot and cold water, water treatment plant which was distributed by piped in to all the houses, street lights, centralized sewage treatment plant and waste evacuation. Besides the polypropylene, all the products are sent to the trading facility storage. These storage tanks range from 30 million to 60 million capacity each. These products are dispatched to trucks via this gantry. The gantry has 98 loading arms and it can load both 33,000 liters to 66,000 liters supply trucks.
When we started producing, those who have been importing the products had decided that maybe if we come in and start selling the products locally, their well-established business will be disrupted for strange reasons. Because today if you are a trader and you are importing the product, instead of importing you're going to buy from us and sell, your business continues as it is but your life is even made easier. Instead of going and sourcing for products abroad, shipping it in, you're going to get it locally.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery can meet all of Nigeria's requirement of all petroleum liquid products 100%.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has employed over 30,000 Nigerian personnel on site and the current ratio of Nigerians to expatriates on the project is 93% Nigerians to 7% expatriates. And over 600 million man hours has been put in. A total of 900 Nigerian engineers are being trained in engineering, design and design of the refinery outside the country.
Everything you take, every statistic you take about this site, it's a global record. And at peak construction period, we had 70,000 people working in the sites. And again pre-construction period this was the largest construction site in the world because we are also constructing the fertilizer plant beside this. So in terms of records, engineering-wise, construction-wise, we have created global records.
The company has since completed the training of 400 artisans selected from the host communities in the areas of masonry, carpentry, AC, electricians, plumbing, welding, metal works, and auto mechanics.
The Dangote refinery and petrochemical plant is very serious about local content development. The refinery will create over 100,000 direct and indirect jobs and provide constant trainings for all its engineers. The Dangote refinery plant is a legacy project that will see Nigeria netting $21 billion per annum.
We have been progressing not only smoothly but if you see globally the rate of commissioning, the rate at which within this period within which a refinery is commissioned, we have been doing one of the best. I should thank God that things have been going so smoothly and in terms of quality our quality will be Euro 5. In fact the diesel we are producing is Euro 5, aviation jet the same. That is why our aviation jet is primarily going to Europe. And because we are producing the best quality products we are able to sell it overseas especially in the toughest of the markets.
Well, what I want to share with Nigerians is actually to show my personal gratitude and that of also the Dangote Group for all the assistance that we got from the president because he also set the pace by creating the Lekki Free Trade Zone as part of his dream. And also we want to thank most especially the governors Fashola, Governor Ambode because it was also during their period that we started and most especially Governor Sanwo-Olu because they have given us all the assistance that we're looking for. We thank all Nigerians for giving us the support which they are too numerous to mention.
There are projects that are built to make profit. And then there are projects that are built to alter the destiny of nations. In a country long defined by a painful contradiction, rich in crude oil, yet dependent on decades of imported fuel, one industrial complex now stands as both an answer and an argument. This is not just a refinery. It is a statement. A testament to vision, skill and execution. A declaration that Nigeria and Africa can refine at scale, supply itself, serve a region, and influence markets far beyond its shores. At the edge of the Atlantic in Epe, Lagos rises the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Africa's largest refinery and the world's largest single train refinery. It is evolving with plans to expand beyond its current capacity towards becoming the largest refinery complex ever built in a single location.
By 2030, the group will be refining 2.1 million barrels a day. And if we are 2.1 million barrels a day, we will be almost like one of the largest refiners of crude, most likely after Saudi Aramco.
But its greatest story is no longer simply that it was built. Its greatest story now is the impact it delivers. For decades, Nigeria lived an economic paradox. One of Africa's largest crude producers, yet unable to consistently refine enough for its own people. Crude left the country. Refined products returned at enormous cost. And with that cycle came pressure on foreign exchange, recurring scarcity, inefficiency, opacity, and vulnerability. So when the idea of a privately built world-scale refinery first emerged, many considered it too ambitious, too expensive, too complex, perhaps even impossible. But some projects are born precisely because the old system has failed far too long. The refinery was conceived in the last decade. Construction gathered pace after the project moved to Lekki and over the years it grew into one of the most ambitious industrial builds ever attempted on the African continent.
For us, it was, I won't say it was easy or difficult, but it's just what you needed to do to get things going. And it took us quite a while to execute the project. And I mean we raised the financing 2013 thereabouts and the project took a while to be fully executed. So you can imagine what we're going through in terms of repaying the loans before we even completed the project. And so that put a lot of pressure on the group's cash flows. We were able to surmount the problems.
Set on 2,635 hectares in the Lekki Free Trade Zone, the refinery was originally designed to process 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day. However, it produces 700,000 barrels of crude oil today, beyond its nameplate capacity. It was inaugurated in May 2023.
Your excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery we are here to commission this morning is in fulfillment of our long-held dream and the product of Dangote's corporate vision driven by our mission to produce what we consume and promote self-sufficiency in the basic needs of our people while competing globally in areas of our comparative and competitive advantage.
It began production in January 2024. And by September 2024, it had started producing petrol for the Nigerian market. By early 2026, it had reached full operational capacity. But even at completion, the blueprint was never final. It was designed to grow.
The first and most immediate impact of the Dangote refinery is energy security. For Nigeria, this means something fundamental. The ability to meet more of its own fuel needs from within. National demand can not only be met, there's also surplus for export. That matters beyond the pump. It means stronger domestic availability, reduced dependence on distant supply chains, fewer vulnerabilities, greater transparency, and a more stable energy system. And the effects are already visible in the trade numbers. Nigeria's petrol import bill in 2025 fell sharply from the previous year showing a decline of about 41.9% from 15.42 trillion naira in 2024 to 8.96 trillion naira in 2025. And for the first time in decades, Nigeria is beginning to retain more value from its own resources. Because a refinery at this scale does not just produce fuel. It changes the balance sheet of a nation. But the deeper story is economic. Every barrel refined locally represents more value retained within Nigeria.
Without this refinery, the government wouldn't have been able to actually, you know, deregulate because they had nothing to deregulate. That's number one. Number two, the exchange rate would have been still at 1,800, 1,900. The reserves that we are also talking about wouldn't be why it is now at 50. Okay? Because all this thing is actually being caused by this refinery. If not because of the refinery, we will not see all this progress. So we must actually thank Mr. President for his leadership because without a good leader, because the leader had to take a very decisive action and that is what he did, taking decisive action and also the risk.
So you can see the impact of this petroleum refinery on the country in terms of stabilizing the currency value and also even improving the foreign exchange value. So when we import something now instead of all the prices keep going up, it has to be coming down and the currency becomes stronger. We are creating employment. We are adding to the GDP. All our businesses we like to be FX generative and bringing significant foreign capital into the African continent and in Nigeria.
Instead of exporting crude and importing finished products, the country moves further up the value chain. But beyond fuel, another revolution is taking place. One that does not power engines, but powers industries. At the heart of the refinery is a world-scale petrochemical operation producing polypropylene. A material so essential it is embedded in nearly every aspect of modern life. From packaging to pharmaceuticals, textiles to automotive components, consumer goods to industrial applications. Polypropylene is the silent engine behind modern economies. For decades, Nigeria depended heavily on imports to meet this demand, spending billions annually on materials that could be produced locally. Now that equation is changing. With local polypropylene production, manufacturers gain access to raw materials faster, cheaper, and at scale. It reduces import dependency, strengthens local industry, creates jobs, and enables both small and large businesses to grow. In doing so, it transforms the refinery from an energy asset into an industrial engine.
The refinery complex generates its own power. This 435 megawatt power plant in the refinery will be able to meet the total power requirements of Ibadan Disco and output covering the five states of Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Kwara and Ekiti. This is no longer just refining oil. This is where crude oil stops being a commodity and becomes an economy.
Dangote. Our vision is to lead Africa's industrialization. Not just to lead it but also to accelerate it. We do this by building world-class companies that leverage the continent's natural resources to build prosperity. So we invest in businesses where both the raw materials and the markets are here in Africa. And in doing that we create jobs, we retain value within the continent and we also enable self-sufficiency within the continent.
If there is scarcity of poly today, it will be worse than the scarcity of gasoline. You know why? Because all grains, all commodities are packed in polypropylene. But cement even is packed, 100% of it is in PP. Polypropylene, sugar is a PP, rice, flour, semolina, almost most of the things that you consume, they are packed there. Even this one that you see, the pasta, they're all packed. This is what they are using, okay, as raw material. So really this has actually brought in a lot of transformation.
Everybody uses detergents and people keep importing the raw, almost the finished material just to do the final detergent production and packaging here. So he has been focusing on how to utilize the raw material here and add value. So that is the primary driver for increasing the capacity of the petroleum refinery.
But the Dangote story does not stop at Nigeria's borders. As production ramped up, the refinery began to reshape regional and global trade flows. Exports now move across Africa and beyond.
Production ensures scale. The commercial function ensures that every molecule of petroleum product produced and every ton of whether urea or polypropylene is optimally monetized. At Dangote, the role goes beyond selling. It includes identifying demand pockets domestically here in Nigeria, in Africa and in the global markets. It includes ensuring realization reflects the true market value, not just the benchmark pricing. It includes building long-term relationships with industrial users, with distributors and governments.
Africa consumes 4.3 million liters, 4.3 million barrels a day of petroleum products. But we produce only about 1.8 even without a working refinery. So therefore there's a lot of scope for us to expand capacity and to continue to meet the demand.
From jet fuel shipments influencing transatlantic supply to gasoline cargos reaching distant markets. This is where the refinery becomes more than a Nigerian achievement. It becomes a market actor, a price influencer, a supply alternative, a key player in global energy trade.
Expanding across Africa and globally comes with real structural challenges. Some of the challenges that we've been able to identify are limited storage, port congestion, a land distribution bottleneck. But now that there's enough capacity to refine products and make this product available within, of course those who have been in that business for long are not going to be very very happy. But all that one can say is that change is happening. So as a business we say that we gave people actually over 10 years notice that we are coming to the market.
For the first time. Several countries, presidents, prime ministers, the ministries, they're contacting, please help, we are in dire straits for petroleum products. So we have not only been able to meet the needs of Nigeria, now everybody in sub-Saharan Africa has realized what a crucial role this refinery can play in sub-Saharan Africa.
