Africa’s richest man calls for urgent reforms to save the continent from economic loss, pollution, and foreign dependence as substandard fuel floods the market
Africa is losing a staggering $90 billion every year to the importation of refined petroleum products, many of which are substandard and potentially harmful to both human health and the environment. This economic and public safety crisis was brought to the forefront by Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, at the ongoing West African Refined Fuel Conference held in Abuja.
Addressing stakeholders, policymakers, and global energy experts at the event jointly organised by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and S&P Global Commodity Insights, Dangote issued a blunt warning: Africa has become the world’s dumping ground for toxic fuels that wouldn’t be allowed in the United States or Europe. According to him, the continent's overreliance on imported petroleum products — despite being a major crude oil producer — is not just economically senseless but also deeply damaging to regional development.
Africa, Dangote noted, produces about seven million barrels of crude oil per day. Yet only 40% of its daily refined petroleum product demand, estimated at 4.3 million barrels, is met locally. The remaining 60% is imported, translating to more than 120 million tonnes of fuel annually at an enormous cost of $90 billion. This dependency on foreign refined products, he said, undermines industrialisation, exports jobs, and brings in poor-quality fuel that compromises safety standards.
He called this a tragic paradox: a continent rich in crude oil resources yet unable to refine enough to meet its own needs. “While we produce plenty of crude, we still import over 120 million tonnes of refined petroleum products each year, effectively exporting jobs and importing poverty into our continent,” he stated.
He emphasized that this loss isn’t just about money — it’s about economic sovereignty. “That’s a $90 billion market opportunity being captured by regions with surplus refining capacity. To put this in perspective: only about 15% of African countries have a GDP greater than $90 billion. We are effectively handing over an entire continent’s economic potential to others, year after year.”
Despite launching Africa’s largest and the world’s biggest single-train refinery, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, the business mogul revealed that the facility still imports between 9 to 10 million barrels of crude oil monthly from the United States and other countries. This, he explained, is largely because of challenges in securing Nigerian crude at competitive terms. While expressing appreciation to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) for making some local cargoes available since the refinery’s commissioning, he said the refinery has often had to negotiate with foreign traders, including those who buy Nigerian crude and resell it at inflated prices.
“Rather than buying crude oil directly from Nigerian producers at competitive terms, we found ourselves having to negotiate with international trading companies, who were buying Nigerian crude and reselling it to us — with hefty premiums, of course,” he said.
Dangote decried the regulatory and logistical bottlenecks that have made local refining more expensive than it should be. He said exorbitant port and regulatory charges account for up to 40% of total freight costs. In some cases, these costs amount to nearly two-thirds of what it takes to charter a vessel, making it more expensive to operate in Nigeria than to import fuel from farther locations like India. He lamented that while Indian refiners pay less to ship crude over longer distances, Nigerian refiners are weighed down by avoidable inefficiencies.
In his words, “Refiners in India, who purchase crude oil from regions even farther away, enjoy lower freight costs than we do right here in West Africa because they are not saddled with exorbitant port charges.”
He also highlighted an inconsistency that puts local producers at a disadvantage: loading petroleum products at Dangote Refinery attracts dual port charges — at both the loading and discharge points. Meanwhile, in places like Lomé, Togo, which competes directly with Nigerian exports, customers pay only at the point of discharge. This discrepancy, according to him, makes Nigerian refined products less competitive in regional markets.
The industrialist also raised serious concerns about the lack of harmonised fuel standards across African countries. Because each country sets its fuel specifications, the refined fuel that meets Nigerian standards cannot be sold in neighbouring markets like Ghana, Togo, or Cameroon, even though these countries have similar environmental conditions and use the same types of vehicles. Dangote said this fragmented regulatory landscape discourages intra-African trade and only serves to benefit international fuel traders who exploit arbitrage opportunities.
He cited an example with diesel standards, pointing out that Nigeria’s requirement for a diesel cloud point of 4°C — meaning the diesel must remain functional at 4 degrees Celsius — is unnecessarily restrictive and costly. He questioned the practicality of enforcing such a standard in a country where few regions ever experience such low temperatures. In contrast, other African nations adopt more reasonable cloud points ranging from 7 to 12 degrees.
“Achieving this cloud point comes at a cost to us and limits the types of crude we could process. But how many places in Nigeria experience temperatures of 4 degrees?” he asked rhetorically. He urged regulators to address such low-hanging fruit to support local producers.
Dangote didn’t shy away from discussing the influx of cheap, low-quality fuel flooding African markets. He expressed concern over the growing volumes of discounted Russian fuel, blended under international price caps and pushed into Africa without adequate quality checks. He said many of these products are substandard and toxic, adding that African consumers deserve better protection from harmful imports.
“To make matters worse, we are now facing increasing dumping of cheap, often toxic, petroleum products — some of which are blended to substandard levels that would never be allowed in Europe or North America,” he warned.
The multi-billionaire, who has spent nearly a decade building the world-class refinery in Nigeria’s Lekki Free Zone, detailed the massive scale and complexity of the project. He described it as one of the most capital-intensive and logistically challenging industrial facilities ever constructed on the continent. The project involved clearing 2,735 hectares of land — seven times the size of Victoria Island in Lagos — 70% of which was swampy. It required pumping 65 million cubic metres of sand to raise the site, installing over 250,000 foundation piles, and laying millions of metres of piping, electrical cabling, and industrial infrastructure.
“At peak, we had over 67,000 people on-site — 50,000 of whom were Nigerians — coordinating around the clock across hundreds of disciplines and nationalities,” he said. “Then, of course, came the COVID-19 pandemic, which set us back by two years and brought new levels of complexity, disruption, and risk. But we persevered.”
Because Nigeria’s existing ports couldn’t handle the volume and size of the required equipment, the refinery project included the construction of a dedicated seaport and the establishment of the world’s largest granite quarry, with a production capacity of 10 million tonnes per year — all built specifically to support the refinery.
“In short, we didn’t just build a refinery — we built an entire industrial ecosystem from scratch,” Dangote declared.
In closing, Dangote called on African governments to take bold steps, similar to those taken by the United States, Canada, and the European Union, which have enacted measures to protect and empower local refiners. He urged policymakers across Africa to prioritise economic efficiency, regulatory reform, and strategic trade decisions that favour local development over foreign dependency.
He made it clear that while free trade and international cooperation are important, they must not come at the expense of quality, safety, or long-term economic self-sufficiency. “It defies logic and economic sense for Africa to be exporting raw crude only to re-import refined products — products we are more than capable of producing ourselves, closer to both source and consumption,” he concluded.
Through his message, Dangote painted a compelling picture of a continent standing at a crossroads with one path leading to continued exploitation and economic leakage, and the other toward industrial self-reliance, regional cooperation, and a brighter future.
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