Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote is deepening his bet on Nigeria’s refining future with a Chinese equipment deal aimed at turning his Lagos refinery into one of the world’s largest fuel-processing hubs.
Dangote Group signed a $400 million equipment agreement with China’s Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group, known as XCMG, to support the expansion of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and other industrial projects.
If completed, the expansion would place the Lekki-based plant in the same league as Reliance Industries’ Jamnagar refinery in India, currently regarded as the world’s largest single-site refining complex.
For Dangote, the agreement is more than a machinery purchase. It is part of a wider plan to turn Nigeria from a fuel-import dependent economy into a major supplier of refined petroleum products across Africa and beyond.
The refinery has already begun changing trade flows in the region. Reuters reported earlier this month that the facility processed 700,000 barrels per day during a performance test, above its official 650,000 bpd nameplate capacity.
