Dangote’s fertilizer production set to hit 9 million metric tons annually
By Eberechi Obinagwam
Dangote is set to create more jobs for Nigerians through its urea fertilizer plant expansion, which will triple its capacity from 3 million metric tons to 9 million metric tons annually.
Devakumar Edwin, Vice President, Oil and Gas, Dangote Industries Limited, stated this on a tour with journalists at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Fertilizer Plant, Lekki, Lagos, on Tuesday.
Dangote fertilizer has an existing 2 train in operation and each of the fertilizer is 1.5 million metric tons, making it 3 million metric tons.
Dangote tripling its capacity means he is building 4 more trains that would make it 9 million metric tons annually.
Edwin said the expansion is due to the high demand of its product. He said Dangote fertilizer is already exporting to international markets, like Brazil and Subshara Africa.
“The expansion will help create more jobs and also add to the nation’s GDP growth when completed. It is going to be the one the Guinness world records as the largest fertilizer plant in the world.”
He said the company employs 22 percent of host communities and 50 percent of the state.
Anthony Chiejina, Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Dangote added that Dangote is the second largest employers aside federal government, “Dangote refinery has 4000 trucks of CNG and automatically that is about 12,000 jobs created. So, for each trucks you have a driver and a motor boy that is having 24,000 workers. If I cast my mind when we started both direct and indirect job at the peak of operation we had 40,000 employees. Now we are running another site. Dangote cement has 50,000 workers and we are also growing, and if by the first quarter of next year the number is added, that is another job. We have the second largest employers aside the government. It is an endless search,” he said.
Edwin, Vice president, stated that capacity building is a key focus within the growth of the company, “Nigeria people are brilliant but what they lack is opportunity to work in an industry. Before, it was 100% Italian but most of the control rooms are now being managed by Nigerians, especially, the fertilizer plant. We send them abroad to get trained. Training and development is a key focus for us. We also educate the community on the value of our products. Aliko Dangote is more interested in the legacy he is going to leave for his people and the subshara Africa,” he said.
He said Dangote will be upgrading their Premium Motor Spirit PMS production capacity from 650,000 barrels per day to 700,000 by next year.
He said the planned deployment of 4,000 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered trucks to support the distribution of refined petroleum products across Nigeria is aimed at ensuring that the benefits of domestic refining and the resulting reduction in fuel prices are fully passed on to Nigerian consumers.
He noted that the introduction of the CNG-powered fleet is a strategic step to reduce logistics costs in fuel distribution — a major factor in the final pump price.
“The use of CNG-powered trucks, in addition to being more environmentally friendly, will significantly reduce transportation expenses, ultimately making refined products more affordable for Nigerians.”
Also, Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Lagos State Council, Comrade Funmi Sessi, led by Executive members of the Council at the tour said praised the massive scale and strategic significance of the Dangote Group’s investments, stating that the projects are delivering tangible benefits to the Nigerian people.
“Today, we have seen the massive Dangote Refinery project, as well as the fertiliser plant. We have also observed some of Dangote’s other investments in this axis. It is truly enormous and highly impressive. I believe what we have seen is a clear effort to bridge the gap in the availability of essential products in the country and to create job opportunities for Nigerians and others as well as industrialise the country,” she said.
The union acknowledged that following the Federal Government’s removal of petrol subsidies, Nigerians experienced an unprecedented surge in the cost of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). However, the entrance of Dangote Petroleum Refinery into the market helped to stabilise prices.
The NLC used the medium to make a direct appeal to the FG to prioritise the sale of crude oil to the Dangote Refinery in naira. The union argued that forcing the company to import crude or purchase locally in dollars undermines the promise of lower fuel prices for ordinary Nigerians.
However, Edwin assured the labour leaders of the company’s steadfast commitment to human capital development, staff welfare, and the overall well-being of the economy, emphasising that Aliko Dangote is a patriotic Nigerian fully dedicated to the nation’s progress.
“Dangote Group has become a nurturing ground for Nigerian engineers, scientists and technicians, many of whom have gone on to work as expatriates in various countries,” he noted.
