Nigeria to become Africa's petrochemical hub with $2 bn plant

At the 2022 Zenith Bank International Trade Seminar on Non-oil Export held in Lagos, Dangote Group president, Aliko Dangote revealed that the 900,000 metric tonnes of polypropylene per annum capacity plant will increase non-oil export earnings for the country. The plant is also expected to export more than eight million tons of petroleum products every year after meeting domestic consumption. Constructed alongside the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Petroleum Refinery, the plant will produce polypropylene to serve the developing plastic processing downstream industries in both Africa and other parts of the world, as per a press release issued by the company.

Dangote also highlighted the need for the government to explore the potential of petrochemical exports by finishing the OB3 Pipeline to make gas available to manufacturers. “There is a need to prioritise financing gas infrastructure, gas allocation to the domestic market, and adjustment of fiscal framework to make the supply of gas to domestic market attractive for oil companies,” Dangote said.

Stressing on the need for Nigeria to encourage non-oil export, Dangote said that Nigeria’s non-oil export is quite low compared to other African top oil producers. “This exposes the economy to oil price and production risks. Export opportunities abound in Nigeria but there are two main routes, import substitution and export-oriented industries. Import substitution is ideal for economies like Nigeria which has a large domestic market and a huge import bill,” he added.

Dangote also appealed to Nigeria’s federal government to leverage the country’s competitive advantage to build industries that are aligned towards export.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)