The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it will start sourcing foreign exchange from Dangote Group as soon as the latter’s refinery and fertilizer projects begin operations.
Speaking during the weekend during a tour of the construction site, Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor, said the operations from both plants will result in huge forex earnings for the country.
The fertilizer refinery is expected to begin operations in May and the refinery has been scheduled for 2020.
“I am sure by that time, the CBN will be begging Dangote to sell its dollars to the bank,” he said.
“We are ready to support in Naira and also ready to provide foreign exchange for any investor who is ready to support Nigeria’s transformational agenda.”
In his remarks, Dangote said Nigeria will be the largest exporter of fertilizer in Africa when the plant is completed.
“We have a couple of projects at hand and we will continue with these transformative projects. The biggest problem we have in Nigeria is that we currently import more than we produce like any other African countries. But, by the time we finish our fertilizer plant, Nigeria will be the largest exporter of fertilizer in Africa,” he said.
“We will also be the largest exporter of petrochemicals and the largest exporter of petroleum products in the whole of Africa.
“We want the CBN to support us like what it did in the cement sector, which made Nigeria not only self-sufficient in the production of cement, but it became an exporter of the product.”
In a presentation made to the CBN governor, Devakumar Edwin, group executive director at Dangote Industries Limited, said the refinery is going to provide over 100,000 indirect employment through retail outlets.
He said the refinery is designed to meet Euro V grade, which is the highest standard in the world, hence products can be exported to any part of the world.
“In terms of evacuation routes, two crude oil single point mooring (SPM) buoys and three multi-product SPMs will be located within the Atlantic Ocean to transfer crude oil to a calling tanker,” he said.
“The 2-Line Dangote Fertilizer Complex, consisting of Ammonia and Urea plants, is conceived to be one of the world’s largest fertilizer plants with a total capacity of 3 Million Tonnes per Annum of Urea fertilizer.”
Other people who joined the CBN governor on the tour were Aliko Dangote, president of the Dangote Group; Aisha Ahmad, CBN deputy governor; Segun Agbaje, managing director of Guaranty Trust Bank, and Olakunle Alake, group managing director of Dangote Industries Limited. (The Nation)
