Billionaire's refinery will fetch $6 billion in forex yearly - CBN

folarin okunola

January 13, 2016 8:32 AM

The apex bank revealed that it was ready to support the project with the provision of foreign exchange for the importation of equipment.

Alhaji Aliko Dangote

According to various media reports, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has expressed its readiness to support the refinery, fertilizer and petrochemical complex being built by billionaire Aliko Dangote via his Dangote Industries Limited company in Lagos.

The apex bank revealed that it was ready to support the project with the provision of foreign exchange for the importation of equipment.

Punch.ng reports that the apex bank stated that the project, when completed, will fetch the country about $6 billion in foreign exchange yearly via the export of products from the plant.

The refinery has a crude processing capacity of about 650,000 barrels per day and is expected to being fully operational by mid-2018. The refinery is also expected to process major products such as petrol, diesel, and jet A1.

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Godwin Emefiele, CBN Governor, who spoke during a tour of the project site on Sunday, said, “About two and a half to three years ago, Alhaji Aliko Dangote actually came to the banks. At that time, I was an operator, and he said he wanted to go into fertiliser, petrochemical as well as refinery business.

“We started with the fertiliser side of it; but today, these three projects are costing them about $14bn (N2.8tn), out of which he is contributing 50 per cent. I have come here to see so that I can also tell Nigerians that we need to give support to people like Aliko Dangote for what they are doing for Nigeria. This is a time when we are talking about diversifying our economy away from oil.”

The plant is also expected to produce other materials such as ammonia, urea, propylene, polypropylene and other petroleum products.

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