Africa’s second-richest man, Aliko Dangote, has linked the success of the production of Premium Motor Spirit from its 650,000 barrels per day refinery to the sale of crude oil to his firm in naira.
The billionaire said the naira sale of crude and products will reduce foreign exchange pressure.
Dangote said this on Tuesday at the unveiling ceremony of his refinery’s new product, which was held at the refining plant in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos.
The billionaire said, “Today is a very special day which I think Nigeria has not produced petrol which is gasoline for many years. I will like to salute the people of Nigeria and the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for creating the environment for us to thrive and also achieve this monumental task of giving energy to our people for growth development and prosperity.
“I want to personally also thank Mr. President for creating this idea of naira for crude and also naira for the product.”
He said the agreement will reduce foreign exchange pressure on the country.
“Doing that will give a lot of stability to the naira where you will remove 40 per cent of the demand dollars in the market and that will actually stabilize the market. As you know, there is a lot of roundtripping where people that do documentation and the fuel is not conveyed to Nigerians,” Dangote said.
NewsNGR reported in June that the government agreed to make available 450,000 barrels for local consumption, which will be offered to Nigerian refineries in Naira, with the Dangote Refinery being the initial test.
The Dangote Refinery currently needs 15 shipments of crude oil annually, amounting to a total cost of $13.5bn.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) has pledged to provide four of these cargoes.
Dangote said, “We must thank the President and the government for making this possible. Without their support, there is no way we will be where we are. As soon as we finalise with the NNPC, our products will start going into the market.”