Dangote Raises $4.5 Billion To Build Nigerian Refinery

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has secured loans from banks to raise $4.5 billion to build Nigerian refinery. Dangote is Africa’s richest person, with an estimated wealth of $20bn, and the 34th-wealthiest person globally, on the Bloomberg billionaires index. He made the revelation while speaking at the ongoing World Economic Forum in Cape Town, South Africa. The refinery will be located in the southwest of Nigeria.

Refining "is an excellent business to get into", Mr Dangote said on Wednesday in an interview in Cape Town, where he was attending a business forum. "We have already secured $4.25bn from two offshore banks and the rest are Nigerian banks," he said.

Nigeria, a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, imports about 70% of the oil products it needs to meet domestic requirements. The nation’s four refineries process less than the 445,000 barrels a day of capacity because of aging infrastructure and poor maintenance. The country exports about four times that volume in crude oil.