Business mogul and President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote on Wednesday said that fuel importation by Nigeria would end by 2016 with the coming on stream of the proposed Dangote Petrochemical project. This followed the conclusion of a $3.3 billion loan agreement with some of Nigeria’s tope banks including United Bank for Africa, Zenith Bank, First Bank and GTBank for the project touted as the biggest of its kind in Africa. The richest man in Africa disclosed to journalists in Abuja after a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan. He met the President alongside fellow businessman, Femi Otedola, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga and President of the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria, Chief Kola Jamodu Dangote Group is billed to build Africa’s largest refinery, petro-chemicals and fertilizer manufacturing complex in Nigeria with a loan secured from a consortium of banks, which are providing the $3.3 billion credit facility for the project. The project, which will gulp $9 billion represent 20 percent of the nation’s reserve and is meant to make the country self- reliant in both petrochemical and petroleum products. “Nigeria is going to be taken out of the list of countries that import petroleum products by 2016. We will produce 20 Million metric tones, which is currently equivalent to what Nigeria consume currently,” he stated. The project will be sited in Olokola, Ondo State. “Today, we did the signing ceremony, the Vice President came to witness the signing but we insisted in coming to thank Mr. President so much for his policies. Without good government policies, there is no way the private sector can invest in Nigeria, because we are not Father Christmas at all. The polices have to be right.” he said The project is said to be the biggest single investment in Africa, and is expected to make Nigeria self sufficient in fuel importation. He noted that Nigeria currently spends about $30 billion dollars annually to import petroleum products. With the signing of the agreement, Dangote disclosed that the project would create jobs for about 85,000 Nigerians at the initial stage and 8,000 engineers. “When you look at what is now happening to Shell Petroleum and others, this policy is better for us,” he said Speaking earlier during the meeting, President Goodluck Jonathan said his administration would keep on implementing policies and measures that would continuously improve the operating environment for entrepreneurs and investors in the Nigerian economy. President Jonathan also expressed the Federal Government’s appreciation of the great support being given by Nigeria’s private sector to the implementation of his administration’s agenda for national transformation. While noting that the Dangote Group’s massive investment in refining, petrochemicals and fertilizer production would contribute significantly to the attainment of government’s priority objective of job creation, the President thanked him and the Chief Executives of the Nigerian banks that are helping to finance the project for being patriotic and having the confidence to invest in their own country. “We are pleased that you are now investing in refining, petro-chemicals and fertilizer production. It is the downstream sector of oil and gas that can really create many jobs. Your interest and investment in that area will help in the area of job creation, which we have been emphasizing,” the President said. “You are also helping us to move away from being a mere producer of raw materials by adding value to our natural resources,” he told Alhaji Dangote and members of his delegation,” the President added. Alhaji Dangote who came on the visit to the President after the signing of the loan agreements for the complex was accompanied by Chief Executives of participating banks including Zenith Bank, First Bank of Nigeria, UBA, Stanbic-IBTC, Access Bank, Ecobank, Fidelity Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank and Rand Merchant Bank. Alhaji Dangote hailed the signing of the financial support agreement as a milestone in the industrialization of Nigeria saying, “It shows that there’s great confidence in the Nigerian economy and quite a lot of appetite for investment in our country”. Others on his delegation included Chairman of Visafone Communications Limited, Mr. Jim Ovia and members of the executive management of the Dangote Group.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Sep 2013 06:36:25 +0000
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