Billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote has applied to begin work on a seaport near his fertiliser and oil refinery plants.
The proposed Atlantic seaport in Olokola, Ogun State, lies about 100 kilometres (62 miles) by road from the billionaire’s fertiliser plant and petrochemicals refinery in Lagos. Dangote currently exports urea and fertiliser through an on-site jetty he built, which also receives heavy equipment for the refinery.
A Bloomberg News report on Monday said that the proposed Atlantic will link its logistics and export operations and rival facilities in Lagos, to make it easier to export goods, including liquefied natural gas.
Dangote plans to export liquefied gas from Lagos, a project that will involve constructing pipelines from Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta, the report quoted the Vice President of the group, Devakumar Edwin.
The report said the project, when completed, will support the rapid growth of his industrial empire.
Dangote’s plan “to build the biggest, deepest port in Nigeria” took wings after he sent in the paperwork for permission in late June, he said in an interview in Lagos, quoted by Bloomberg.
Once completed, the port will link the conglomerate’s logistics and export operations and rival facilities in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, including the Chinese-funded Lekki Deep Sea Port opened in 2023.