Dangote Group has insisted that the Federal Government’s deferment in the implementation of the 15 per cent import duty on petrol and diesel will not alter its long-term refinery expansion plans.
It stressed that the company remains focused on scaling up its production capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day. The Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer of Dangote Industries Limited, Anthony Chiejina, told Sunday PUNCH on Friday that the policy shift has no bearing on the company’s strategy or timelines.
Recall that last month, Africa’s foremost industrialist, Aliko Dangote, announced plans to expand the capacity of Dangote Refinery from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day, making it the largest refinery in the world upon completion.
“No. The policy deferment cannot stop the company’s strategic efforts to upgrade the refinery to a 1.4 million barrels per day capacity. How can it stop?” he said. “This is a strategic issue that was taken for the organisation to grow. We are thinking about tomorrow. We are not thinking about today at all.”
Chiejina explained that the refinery expansion remains a forward-looking investment designed to position the company as a major supplier of refined products for domestic and export markets.
“The 1.4 million barrels per day is a strategic thinking of the organisation. It’s for tomorrow, not for today,” he added, dismissing concerns that the tariff suspension could slow down the refinery’s market positioning or discourage investment in local refining.