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• Dangote, NNPC, NMDPRA push for regional infrastructure integration
• ARDA urges $15b Investment amid 1.3mbpd capacity in five countries
African is exporting jobs and importing poverty by failing to refine its own crude oil, Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, said yesterday, warning that the continent forfeits over $90 billion yearly to regions with greater refining capacity.
This comes as the Nigeria Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) said the continent still imports about 69 per cent of gasoline and refines only about 31 per cent locally.
Delivering the keynote address at the West Africa Refined Fuel Conference in Abuja, Dangote said the continent’s reliance on imported refined fuel was not only undermining industrialisation but also entrenching structural poverty.
“Only 15 per cent of African countries have a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) above $90 billion, yet we hand over that much value every year through crude exports. We must stop outsourcing our industrial future,” he said.
Dangote cited the massive technical, commercial and political hurdles encountered while building his refinery in Lagos, adding that despite the scale of the investment, sourcing crude from Nigerian producers proved unexpectedly difficult.
“Rather than selling to us directly, international traders bought Nigerian crude and resold it to us at a premium,” Dangote said while stressing that his refinery still imports crude monthly from the United States (U.S.) and other countries.
According to him, regulatory bottlenecks and prohibitive logistics costs make it more expensive to move crude within the continent than to ship it from as far as India. He also criticised Africa’s fragmented fuel specifications, which he said inhibit regional trade.
“The diesel we refine for Nigeria cannot be sold in Ghana, Togo or Cameroon. This fragmentation only benefits foreign traders,” Dangote lamented.
The industrialist warned that Africa’s domestic refining ambitions were at risk of being crushed by the dumping of ultra-cheap and often toxic fuels, particularly Russian petroleum products blended to substandard levels.
“We must not let dumping destroy our manufacturing base like it did with textiles,” he said. Despite the challenges, Dangote said Nigeria is now a net exporter of cement, urea and petrol.
The refinery has exported over one million tonnes of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) since June and is preparing for public listing. He called on governments across the continent to demonstrate the political will to dismantle rent-seeking systems, harmonise product standards and protect local industry from unfair competition. “Without such action, we may never see another refinery built in Africa in our lifetime,” Dangote warned.
NMDPRA, at the event, disclosed that five key West African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Niger, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, still rely on imports for nearly 70 per cent of their petrol needs, despite a combined refining capacity of 1.335 million barrels per day.
Chief Executive of NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, said about 2.144 million metric tonnes of gasoline was traded monthly in West Africa, but only 610,000 metric tonnes (31 per cent) was produced locally. The remaining 69 per cent, he added, is imported. He noted that despite ongoing refinery upgrades and new investments, the region continues to lag in self-sufficiency.
According to the 2025 OPEC World Oil Outlook, Africa is expected to add 1.2 million barrels per day of refining capacity between 2025 and 2030, with a significant portion expected from West Africa.
Ahmed expressed optimism that these developments, including Nigeria’s refining renaissance, would enhance availability of petroleum products and reduce foreign dependence. He described Nigeria as well-positioned to serve as a central logistics hub, supported by deep seaports, robust coastlines, and improving regulatory frameworks.
In a move to enhance pricing transparency and regional efficiency, Ahmed said NMDPRA was collaborating with S&P Global Commodity Insights to develop pilot pricing indices tailored for the West African market.
The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari, described the region’s limited refining capacity as an existential threat to energy security and economic transformation.
The African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA) warned that the region remains critically dependent on imported fuel despite its oil wealth.
ARDA Executive Secretary, Aniborb Kragha, said over 80 per cent of refined fuels consumed in West Africa are imported, a situation he called economically unsustainable and a threat to sovereignty.
He estimated that Africa would require over $15 billion in downstream investment over the next decade and urged development banks and sovereign wealth funds to step up.
“Let us not wait for others to define our energy destiny. Let us shape it together, by Africans, for Africans,” Kragha said.
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