Olufemi Adeyemi
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, says he has repaid about $2.4 billion of the $5.5 billion borrowed to build his $19 billion refinery.
The founder of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has revealed that he has paid off $2.4bn of the $5.5bn loan for his $19bn Lagos-based refinery.
The Africa’s richest man also alleged that powerful oil
cartels tried to undermine his refinery project.
Speaking at the Afreximbank Annual Meetings in Nassau, The
Bahamas, on Wednesday, Dangote said his 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery will
act as Nigeria’s strategic reserve, as reported by This Day Newspaper.
“We borrowed the money based on our own balance sheet. I
think we borrowed just over $5.5bn. But we paid also a lot of interest as we
went along, because the project was delayed because of lack of land, also the
sand-filling took a long time. Almost five years or so we didn’t do anything.
“We actually started in 2018. We borrowed that much. We have
actually, of course, paid interest and some principal, about $2.4bn. We’ve done
very well. We now have only about $2.7bn left to be paid. So we’ve done very
well for a project of that magnitude,” he said.
Dangote thanked Afreximbank and Access Bank for their
support, acknowledging that many had doubted the project’s success.
He stated that the vision would have failed without their
backing.
Dangote further remarked that foreign banks showed little
interest in supporting Africa’s development.
The billionaire acknowledged that he anticipated resistance,
but admitted that he underestimated the ferocity of the opposition, stating
that the pushback was far more intense than he had expected.
He stated that both local and international interests, which
he likened to a “mafia”, made repeated attempts to thwart the refinery’s
completion.
“Well, I knew that there would be a fight. But I didn’t know
that the mafia in oil, they are stronger than the mafia in drugs. I can tell
you that. Yes, it’s a fact,” he stated.
Dangote, who described himself as a fighter, said they
“tried all sorts” to stop him.
“But I’m a person that has been fighting all my life. You
know, so I think it’s part of my life to fight,” he said.
He added, “As a matter of fact during the COVID period, some
of the international banks really were looking forward to making sure that they
push us into default of our loans so that the project will just be dead. And
that didn’t happen with the help of banks like Afreximbank.”
Dangote also announced his plans to venture into the steel
industry, stating that his goal is to use only Nigerian-produced steel,
ensuring self-sufficiency and reducing reliance on imports.
Recently, Dangote Refinery shifted its plan to release
petrol into the market from June to July 10-15. Dangote cited minor challenges
for the delay.