Dangote Petrochemicals to position Nigeria as polypropylene hub in Africa: President

*Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Group, has said polypropylene is strategically positioned to cater to the demands of the growing plastic processing downstream industries in Africa and other parts of the world

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

The Dangote’s $2billion Petrochemicals Plant, located in Lagos State, will position Nigeria as one of Africa’s largest petrochemicals hubs and boost non-oil export earnings for the West African country, when fully operational.

ConsumerConnect reports Aliko Dangote, Group President, who said this in a statement noted the 900,000 metric tonnes per annum capacity Plant, which is being built alongside the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Petroleum Refinery, also located in Lagos, would produce polypropylene.

Dangote stated the product is strategically positioned to cater to the demands of the growing plastic processing downstream industries not only in Africa but also in other parts of the world.

The statement disclosed Dangote made this disclosure at 2022 Zenith Bank International Trade Seminar on Non-oil Export  in Lagos recently.

The refinery and petrochemical projects will ensure petroleum products sufficiency and security for Nigeria, said he.

The Group President further emphasised the need for the Nigerian Government to unlock the potential of petrochemicals export by completing the OB3 pipeline to make gas available to manufacturers.

Dangote stated: “There is need to prioritise financing gas infrastructure, gas allocation to the domestic market and adjustment of fiscal framework to make supply of gas to domestic market attractive for oil companies.”

According to him, the refinery reputed to be the largest single train greenfield petroleum refinery in the world, is at an advanced stage of completion, and on completion, it is expected to export much more than eight million tonnes of petroleum products annually after meeting domestic consumption.

He as well disclosed that  about 900,000 tonnes of polypropylene is also expected from the petrochemical plant.

The business mogul also revealed that the recently commissioned 3m mtpa Fertilizer Plant has “commenced export to India, North America and Latin America.

“At steady state, will export two million tons per annum after meeting domestic consumption.”

He explained the Dangote Fertilizer, regarded as the second largest urea fertilizer plant in the world, is leveraging Nigeria’s abundant gas reserves as raw material for the production of Urea.

Stressing the need for Nigeria to encourage non-oil export, Dangote said that Nigeria’s non-oil export is quite low compared to other African top oil producers.

The Dangote Group President said: “This exposes the economy to oil price and production risks.

“Export opportunities abound in Nigeria but there are two main routes import substitution and export-oriented industries. “Import substitution is ideal for economies like Nigeria which has a large domestic market and a huge import bill.”

Investors, Dangote noted, can build industries, which initially target the domestic market, then subsequently target export markets as they build scale and competitiveness.

He then, urged the Federal Government to build on the country’s competitive advantage to develop industries that are primarily geared towards export.

“Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) in Bonny is a good example of an export-oriented investment (though would be good to get a model where such revenues are sold in I&E window,” he stated.

Dangote added that some countries have gone a step further to create special economic zones to achieve this objective.

In his goodwill message, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),  described the theme of the seminar, “Unlocking Opportunities in Nigeria’s Non-Oil Export Business”, as timely and appropriate.

The Group stated Emefiele reasoned that the theme was apt because “the global economy and structure are changing rapidly before our eyes.

The Governor of CBN also said: “The previous world economic order underpinned by globalisation and seamless trade possibilities seems to be suffering major disruptions lately.

“We believe Nigeria has a lot of potential, and we can harness this for the good of our people and country.”

The CBN has undertaken several initiatives to promote the non-oil export sector because of its firm belief that the non-oil export sector holds enormous potential to contribute to employment generation, wealth creation and economic growth of the country, he disclosed.

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