President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has expressed concerns that Africa has become a dumping ground for substandard petroleum products due to its overdependence on fuel imports.
Dangote made the remarks during a recent interview with journalists, where he reflected on the challenges and motivations behind establishing the Dangote Refinery.
The billionaire industrialist said his decision to build the multibillion-dollar refinery was driven by a vision to make Nigeria self-sufficient in refined petroleum products and to inspire similar developments across the continent.
“Apart from Algeria and Libya, which are self-sufficient, virtually every other African country is an importer,” he said, noting the irony of the situation despite Africa’s vast crude oil reserves.
Dangote said many had doubted the group’s ability to deliver such a massive project, with some even urging him to abandon it. He cited the failure of some governments to build similar facilities successfully.
“People think building a refinery is like building a house. But, as I always say, if I had known the scale of challenges we would face, I wouldn’t have started at all,” he admitted. “We were fortunate as a group because we didn’t fully grasp what we were getting into, but we believed that nothing is impossible.”
He said the company had to choose between cutting its losses and forging ahead at a critical point.
“We had to keep pushing to ensure delivery,” he said, expressing hope that the refinery would serve as a catalyst for other African nations to develop refining capacity and reduce dependence on raw material exports.
Dangote also called on wealthy Nigerians to invest locally, stressing that national development cannot happen without substantial domestic investment.
He criticised the trend of exporting African wealth to foreign countries, and urged the elite to channel their resources into building the local economy.
“No nation develops without significant investments,” he said. “I appeal to all wealthy Nigerians to look inward and invest here, in Nigeria, for the future of our unborn kids.”
“There is hardly any country without corruption,” Dangote added, “but the difference is that in those other countries, even when funds are stolen, they are invested locally and contribute to economic growth—unlike here, where funds are hidden in foreign banks that do nothing for us.”
Dangote further emphasised that Africa needs bold, transformative projects to address its expanding population’s deep-rooted socio-economic issues, particularly job creation.
