The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals will become the world’s largest refinery by 2028, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has said.
Dangote disclosed this on Monday at the preliminary signing ceremony for the proposed initial public offering of shares in the 700,000-barrels-per-day refinery and petrochemicals company.
He described the event as a significant milestone for the company, Nigeria and Africa, noting that the facility was already the largest refinery in Africa and the world’s largest single-train refinery.
“Today marks a significant milestone for us as not just a company, but as Nigerians and also Africans,” Dangote said.
“As we gather today to witness the preliminary activities that will set in motion the initial public offering of the 700,000 barrels per day in the Dangote refinery and petrochemicals, the largest refinery in Africa, world’s largest single train, and soon to be the largest refinery by 2028 in the world history.”
Banks Backed Project Without Seeing Licence
Reflecting on the development of the refinery, Dangote said the project began more than a decade ago, when the group secured financing backed by its bankers.
According to him, the lenders demonstrated confidence in the project despite not having seen the refinery site or a licence for the facility at the time.
“Today also shows that nothing is impossible for us to achieve once we are focused and determined,” he said.
Dangote said the group’s Vision 2030 agenda was focused on accelerating Africa’s industrialisation, stressing that energy security was critical to achieving the objective.
“Our vision 2030 mantra at the Dangote Group is accelerating Africa’s industrialisation. We have learned the hard way, and we cannot industrialise if we do not have the energy security,” he said.
He said the group subsequently shifted its investment strategy towards strengthening energy security in Nigeria, which he described as the powerhouse of Africa, while extending its industrialisation drive to other parts of the continent.
Dangote said the group had announced expansion plans in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia and other African countries, adding that its investments were encouraging more entrepreneurs to participate in Africa’s industrialisation.
On the proposed IPO, Dangote said ownership of the refinery would not be restricted to a particular category of investors.
“There is no segregation on who can own the shares. We want every human being living on the continent to be part of this action, and I’m sure they will continue to be happy now, future, and forever,” he said.
Refinery Among World’s Largest — CEO
Also speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Petroleum Refinery, David Bird, said the facility serves Nigeria while prioritising markets across West Africa.
Bird said the refinery’s products were already meeting international standards, pointing to its growing role in the global energy market.
“There is no better time than right now to demonstrate the world-class quality of our products because we are the largest jet fuel supplier into Europe,” he said.
Bird said Africa’s industrialisation had reached a stage where the continent was contributing to the momentum of the global economy.
He said he was particularly proud of the refinery’s operational performance over the preceding six months, noting that the facility had helped cushion the impact of supply disruptions linked to conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.
According to him, the Dangote refinery has evolved into a trading-led merchant refinery capable of processing a wide range of crude grades and supplying several international markets.
Bird said the 700,000-barrels-per-day facility was the largest refinery in Africa and already ranked among the five or six largest refineries globally.
He disclosed that the planned expansion of the facility had been fully sponsored, engineered and procured, leaving construction as the major outstanding phase.
“This is now just a construction exercise that we believe we can deliver by 2028 to make the Dangote refinery the largest integrated refinery and petrochemical complex on the planet,” Bird said.
He added that the refinery’s scale and product quality had positioned it among the leading facilities in the global refining industry.
