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The billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote’s plan forms part of a broader growth strategy unveiled by the Dangote Group, which aims to increase annual revenue to $100 billion by 2030. The plan is expected to require at least $40 billion of additional investment.
Dangote Refinery has increased its crude processing rate to 700,000 barrels a day during a performance test conducted by process licensors, surpassing its official design capacity, according to the company.
This lifts throughput above the refinery’s nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels a day. The facility, located on the outskirts of Lagos, began producing fuels in 2024 and has expanded output of gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel and other petroleum products.
Executives, including Dangote, said the latest increase is part of a broader plan to expand processing capacity to 1.4 million barrels a day within the next 30 months, a move that could make the complex the world’s largest refinery by capacity.
The refinery’s growth comes at a time when concerns over supply-chain disruptions and geopolitical tensions linked to the United States (U.S.)-Israel-Iran conflict have prompted many African countries to reassess their dependence on imported fuels. The facility exports petroleum products across Africa and to Europe, including shipments to the United Kingdom (U.K.), France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands. It has also supplied gasoline to the U.S. and jet fuel to Saudi Arabia.
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“The project demonstrates the value of building systems and institutions that can sustainably meet the needs of our people while positioning the continent more competitively in the global economy,” Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, tells FORBES AFRICA.
Recent developments suggest that the refinery’s ambitions extend beyond Nigeria. In May, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni disclosed that he had met Dangote in Kampala to discuss plans for a potential East African refinery. The meeting followed separate discussions with Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan and her Kenyan counterpart William Ruto, and came amid debate over the possible location of the project.
Supporters argue that the refinery represents more than an energy investment.
Olusola Amusan, a Nigerian technology entrepreneur, says the project’s broader significance lies in its challenge to a long-standing economic model under which African countries export raw materials while importing higher-value manufactured products.
“For decades, Africa supplied crude oil while industrial capacity and profits accumulated elsewhere. This development confirms that world-scale industrial infrastructure can be financed, built and operated on the continent,” Amusan says to FORBES AFRICA.
Analysts say the refinery has already played an important role in reducing the reliance of Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, on imported fuels, easing pressure on foreign exchange reserves and encouraging investment in downstream industries. Increased availability of products such as liquefied petroleum gas, polypropylene and other petrochemical feedstocks is also expected to support domestic manufacturing.
Source: Forbes Africa
