On the outskirts of Lagos, Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote is building what he says is a solution to the country’s fuel crisis: A massive, 650,000 barrel-per-day refinery that is designed to turn the country’s crude oil into gasoline for hungry consumers.
Dangote, said the refinery and petrochemical plant has the potential to satisfy Nigeria’s daily requirement of 445,000 to 550,000 barrels of fuel, with spare capacity to export.
“This one we are building will satisfy 100% of the [fuel] need of Nigeria,” Dangote told CNNMoney.
There are reasons to believe Dangote will meet his goal of bringing the factory online by late 2018: He has already completed several major projects in Africa, including the world’s largest sugar refinery and cement factory.
If his refinery project is successful, Nigeria could even become an exporter of gasoline and other petroleum products to the region.