Adesina tasks Dangote’s detractors to stop fuel imports, produce and compete
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Akinwumi Adesina, Nigeria’s former Agriculture Minister now African Development Bank (AfDB) President, has asked those who allege Aliko Dangote is trying to monopolise the energy industry to establish their own refineries in Nigeria and compete with him, instead of importing petrol and diesel from abroad.
Adesina was reacting to allegation levelled on July 18 by Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Authority (NMDPRA) Chief Executive Officer, Farouk Ahmed, that Dangote is attempting to monopolise the oil sector.
But, Adesina countered, seeking protection and support from the government for nearly a $20 billion investment is not an attempt at monopolisation.
Adesina insisted those who wish to compete with Dangote Refinery should establish their own local refineries, which will be fair and help drive productivity and boost the economy.
“In a nation that has been importing refined petroleum products for several decades, the abnormal simply became very normal. No smart investor would make a $19.5 billion investment and want it to be undermined by importers,” he said.
“To manufacture is extremely expensive and risky. This is even more so in Nigeria, given the very challenging business and economic environment, fraught with policy uncertainties and policy reversals, and where the self-defeating default mode of ‘simply import it’ is always so easily rationalised and chorused to solve any problem.
“Competition is good for everyone. But is Dangote refineries anti-competitive? What is the evidence? Has Dangote refineries prevented any other company from setting up refineries? Why have others not done so? How come they have not done so for several decades? Was it Dangote that held them back? But Dangote Refineries surely cannot be asked to ‘compete’ with importers of petroleum products.
“That is not competition. Let the importers set up local refineries and compete by refining in Nigeria. That is fair and justified competition. We cannot and must not undermine, disparage or kill local industries, talk less of one that is of this scale — a jewel of industrialisation in Nigeria.”
Ahmed of the NMDPRA also alleged diesel produced by Dangote Refinery is inferior to imported ones, among other disparaging attacks.
Fuel quality impacts engine hardware, thus ultra-low sulfur diesel is recommended for all types of companies, power plants, storage tanks, industrial facilities, fleets and heavy equipment, and even ships, as high sulphur content in fuels causes damage to engines and contributes to air pollution.
The NMDPRA permits local refiners to produce diesel with sulphur content of up to 650 parts per million (ppm) until January 2025, as approved by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Ahmed alleged recently diesel produced by Dangote Refinery is inferior to the ones imported, and its fuel has a large content of sulphur of between 650 and 1,200ppm.
However, House of Representatives member Esosa Iyawe has disclosed at plenary that investigation by lawmakers shows the allegation is false.
“In their defence, [Ali] Dangote called for a test of products of [the refinery] which was supervised by members of the House of Representatives, wherein it was revealed that diesel had a sulphur content of 87.6 ppm (parts per million), whereas the other two samples diesel imported showed sulphur levels exceeding 1800 ppm and 2000 ppm respectively, thus disproving the allegations made by the NMDPRA boss,” Iyawe said.
__________________________________________________________________
Related articles:
Aisha Yesufu urges Tinubu, others to speak up for Dangote Refinery so it won’t go under
Reps ask Tinubu to suspend oil regulator for his dirty fight with Dangote Refinery
__________________________________________________________________
