Dangote Refinery ‘ll be ready before end of Buhari’s tenure — Dangote

Chairman of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, on Friday, gave an assurance that the Dangote Refinery would be ready for commissioning before the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure in 2023.

Dangote unveiled this while addressing State House correspondents on Friday after a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

When asked when the refinery would commence operations, the Africa’s richest man said “by the grace of God, Mr. President will come and commission before the end of his tenure”.

He said when the refinery starts operation, it would serve as another means of creating jobs and generate more tax money, that would benefit the government.

According to him, “In the near future they are expect to see more employment, they are expect to see more prosperity. We keep doing new things and good things and also we keep paying our taxes, which will complement the government’s effort in providing education, good health and the rest.”

When asked if he felt intimidated about potash scarcity as a result of the Russian/Ukrainian conflict, Dangote said, “No, we are not concerned. Well, there are some few other countries that have it, it’s not only Ukraine that has it. Yes, Ukraine and Russia have about 26% of the world’s potash, but it does not mean that you cannot source potash elsewhere. So I’m not really very concerned, the concern is just about price”, he said.

While explaining why his team was at the Presidential Villa, he said “we came here on a courtesy call and also a ‘thank you visit’, to thank him for personally coming to commission our fertilizer plant. This is just on the 22nd of March, about four weeks ago. So, I’m here with my board of directors, just to show gratitude to Mr. President and he received us very well”.