The President of the Dangote Group and founder of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Aliko Dangote, says there will be an announcement of what he calls a major ‘shakedown’ in the entire country soon.
Dangote said this was not about price reduction, but the complete overhaul of the downstream sector. He stated this in an interview with newsmen following the recent visit of President Bola Tinubu to the $20bn refinery in Lekki, Lagos.
Asked to mention the ‘big thing’ he had in store for Nigerians with the refinery, Dangote replied, “Now that the President has visited and he has given us additional energy, we will inform you, you will hear from us soon, and that will be one of the major shakedowns in the entire country. It is not the reduction of price, it will be the total overhaul of the downstream.”
Dangote, who refused to let the cat out of the bag, noted that the company would go on a “massive trajectory” with the refinery.
“I told the President that he had not seen anything yet, we are going on a massive trajectory, much more than what you have seen here. If you come back in the next five years, the refinery will be on the back burner,” he stated
The businessman also restated that the refinery would be listed on the stock exchange market, starting with the fertiliser company this year.
He acknowledged the impact of President Tinubu’s economic policies, saying recent reforms had fostered a more conducive environment for industrial growth and long-term investment.
Dangote also expressed appreciation for President Tinubu’s ‘Nigeria First Policy’, which aimed to reduce dependence on foreign goods and services by prioritising local content in investment decisions, business operations, and consumer behaviour.
He remarked that this policy aligned with the Dangote Group’s corporate vision of producing what the nation consumes and fostering self-sufficiency to meet the basic needs of Nigerians.
He also commended the administration’s “significant improvements in national infrastructure through initiatives such as the Nigerian Road Infrastructure Development Fund and the Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme.”
He noted that under these schemes, eight major roads – including the Lekki-Epe corridor – had been awarded within the same cluster at a cumulative cost of N900bn.
According to Dangote, the petroleum refinery was one of several strategic initiatives by the Dangote Group in support of the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which sought to reposition Nigeria as a regional manufacturing hub.