Dangote dispute goes public

Ifeanyi Onyegiri, senior analyst for sub-Saharan Africa at consultancy Welligence, talks to Petroleum Economist about the latest controversies surrounding Nigeria’s Dangote refinery

Nigeria’s Dangote refinery was supposed to be a game-changer for the crude exporting nation, as well as for West Africa more broadly. But a few months since commissioning and the facility is still experiencing problems, particularly around securing feedstock, and developer Aliko Dangote has even gone public with some of his complaints about the situation. At the same time, fuel costs are a key factor in the cost of living and inflationary crisis now engulfing Nigeria and pressuring the government. The massive, 650,000b/d Dangote refinery was intended to resurrect Nigeria’s withered downstream sector and break the country’s expensive dependence on imported fuels. Commissioning is a lengthy pr