Aliko Dangote, Chairman of Dangote Group, announced that the company has paid off $2.4 billion of the $5.5 billion loan taken for the construction of the $19 billion, 650,000 barrels per day refinery.
Speaking at the Afreximbank Annual Meetings on Wednesday, Dangote highlighted the refinery’s importance as Nigeria’s strategic reserve.
“We borrowed the money based on our balance sheet. I think we borrowed just over $5.5bn. But we paid also a lot of interest as we went along, because the project was delayed because of a lack of land, also the sand-filling took a long time.
“Almost five years or so we didn’t do anything. We started in 2018. We borrowed that much. We have, of course, paid interest and some principal, about $2.4bn. We’ve done very well. We now have only about $2.7bn left to be paid. So we’ve done very well for a project of that magnitude,” Dangote explained.
Dangote also discussed the challenges faced during the refinery project, including opposition from powerful oil cartels.
“Well, I knew that there would be a fight. But I didn’t know that the mafia in oil, they are stronger than the mafia in drugs. I can tell you that. Yes, it’s a fact,” he stated.
The Dangote Refinery, which had initially planned to start supplying Premium Motor Spirit (fuel) in June 2024, has shifted the date to July 10-15 due to various challenges.
In April, the refinery began supplying diesel and aviation fuel, months after its commissioning in May last year.
