Aliko Dangote files paperwork to expand his vast quarry through maritime logistics
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Group, says he has filed paperwork to build Nigeria’s biggest and deepest seaport in Olokola, Ogun, which signals the expansion of his multibillion-dollar industrial empire and a foray into maritime logistics.
Dangote disclosed to Bloomberg in Lagos on Monday that he submitted the paperwork for the seaport project in late June.
The planned facility, located about 100 kilometres from his refinery and fertiliser complex in Lekki, Lagos, is expected to ease the export of goods such as fertilizer, petrochemicals, and liquefied natural gas, and enhance access for imported equipment and raw materials.
“It’s not that we want to do everything by ourselves, but I think doing this will encourage other entrepreneurs to come into it,” Dangote said, enthusing that the project would attract more private investment into Nigeria’s underdeveloped port infrastructure.
Dangote currently exports urea and fertilizer through an on-site jetty he built, that also receives heavy equipment for the refinery.
The proposed Atlantic seaport, if approved, will rival existing ports in Lagos, including Lekki Deep Sea Port funded by Chinese investors that began operation in 2023.
It also marks a return to the Olokola site for Dangote, who had previously shelved plans to site his massive refinery and fertilizer plant there due to conflicts with local authorities.
Those disputes, however, appear to have been resolved under the current administration.
The development also comes four months after he disclosed readiness of the company to return to the Olokola Free Trade Zone in Ogun Waterside Council.
Dangote equally plans to export liquefied gas from Lagos, a project that will involve constructing pipelines from the Niger Delta, as previously disclosed by Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) Vice President Devakumar Edwin.
“We want to do a major project to bring more gas than what NLNG is doing today,” he said, referring to Nigeria LNG, a joint-venture between the Federal Government, Shell, Eni SpA, and TotalEnergies SE, that is currently Africa’s largest exporter of LNG.
“We know where there is a lot of gas, so run a pipeline all through and then bring it to the shore.”
Dangote already sources natural gas from the Niger Delta to supply his fertilizer plant, where it is used as feedstock to produce hydrogen for ammonia, a key component in the production of the crop nutrient.
Besides, the richest man in Africa plans to start distributing fuel to retailers in Nigeria from August, using a fleet of 4,000 gas-powered trucks, a move that has drawn criticism from some groups accusing him of attempting to monopolise the oil sector, which he has denied.
Dangote, valued at $27.8 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, also owns cement manufacturing and sugar plants in Africa.
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