The Dangote Oil Refinery, Africa’s largest petrochemical refinery worth $20.5 billion and owned by Aliko Dangote, the continent’s richest person, has decreased the price of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), also known as diesel. This follows Dangote’s earlier comments this month.
The refinery, which has recently made news with a number of measures, reduced the price of diesel to N1,000 ($0.877) per litre. This is a huge fall from the refinery’s advertised price of N1,200 ($1.052) per liter two weeks ago.
The price cut demonstrates Dangote’s commitment to stabilizing commodities prices. Last week, he voiced optimism that decreased diesel costs could alleviate Nigeria’s inflationary pressures. He stated that a reduction would result in cheaper shipping and logistics costs, which are a primary element driving up consumer goods prices.
Dangote, whose net wealth is assessed at $17.2 billion by Bloomberg Billionaires Index, talked to media after meeting with Nigerian President Bola Tinubu last week. He expressed confidence in Nigeria’s economic prospects and highlighted the role his refinery plays in that progress.
Dangote predicts that inflation would fall, indicating an optimistic view. He remarked, “Nigerians have been patient, and I am confident that a lot of good will now come through. There’s a lot of improvement because, if you look at it, one of the major challenges that we’ve had was the naira devaluation, which has risen dramatically to around N1,900.But for now, we’re back to around N1,250 or N1,300, which is a decent reprieve.”
The price decrease comes after the Dangote Oil Refinery opened, a significant step towards Nigeria’s energy independence. The refinery has the world’s highest single-train capacity (650,000 barrels per day) and intends to reduce the country’s reliance on imported fuels.
After launching the refinery, Aliko Dangote planned to build a separate oil trading division, potentially headquartered in London. This decision marks a considerable departure from customary procedures. The goal is to improve crude oil and product supply chain management at his $20 billion petrochemical facility. Dangote aims for supply chain independence.
Industry sources say Dangote intends to lessen dependency on major trading businesses by managing the supply chain internally.”He’s going to try and do it himself,” claimed an insider. The new trading team, purportedly helmed by veteran Essar trader Radha Mohan, is currently looking for additional employees.
