By Milcah Tanimu
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man and President of the Dangote Group, has criticized the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) for reducing its stake in his 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery from 20% to 7.2%. Speaking during a Bloomberg Television interview in New York, Dangote described the decision as a “big mistake” and confirmed that there would be no further renegotiation on the issue.
Initially, NNPC had agreed to invest 20% in the Lagos-based refinery, with an upfront payment of $1 billion as part of a $2.79 billion deal. The agreement included terms where NNPC would recover its investment by deducting $2 from every barrel of crude oil supplied to the refinery, up to 300,000 barrels per day. This arrangement aimed to settle one-third of the outstanding balance, while the remaining amount was to come from NNPC’s profits.
However, NNPC later chose to change the terms, opting to pay the remaining $1.8 billion in cash instead. Despite agreeing to a new deal with a one-year deadline for payment, NNPC ultimately decided to maintain only a 7.2% stake, a move that Dangote criticized as a major misstep.
“The agreement is finished, dead, completed. It’s 7.2%,” Dangote emphasized, making it clear that there would be no room for renegotiation.
Meanwhile, over 300 NNPC trucks are currently at the Dangote Refinery to load petrol for distribution to marketers, signaling the commencement of fuel sales. This development aims to alleviate petrol scarcity in Nigeria, where prices have surged to between N900 and N1,200 per litre. The refinery’s operations are expected to provide much-needed relief and potentially lower fuel prices nationwide.
