In 2011, the Chinese, demonstrating their strategic foresight, established a refinery in Niger Republic, which borders Nigeria to the North-East. This refinery, with a capacity of 20,000 liters per day and a cost of $5 billion, was completed swiftly and produces both diesel and petrol. Now, the Chinese are in the process of setting up another refinery in Ghana, Nigeria’s southwestern neighbor.
Although this new refinery is not yet operational, China and Ghana have expressed their intention to make Ghana a hub for petroleum refining in Africa. China’s interest in building refineries in countries neighboring Nigeria stems from the region’s unmet demand for refined petroleum products. Historically, Nigeria’s petrol subsidies, which the government has struggled to remove, have encouraged the smuggling of subsidized fuel into neighboring countries.
However, with the Dangote Refinery—the largest single-train refinery in the world—now operational, alongside the growing energy independence of nearby nations, smuggling of petrol may become less attractive, casting doubt on China’s plans. Aliko Dangote’s $20 billion refinery and petrochemical complex in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, is central to Nigeria’s current reform efforts to liberate herself from the shackles of economic decline. Though Dangote did not initiate this transformative project under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, it became operational during his tenure.
That is even as Tinubu’s go.
