Africa’s richest man offers fuel relief

The Dangote refinery has the capacity to supply Nigeria and most of the continent amid the Middle East war disruption, its owner has said

Nigeria’s Dangote refinery has said it is ramping up fuel and fertilizer exports to African markets as supply disruptions linked to the US-Israeli war on Iran tighten availability and drive up import costs across the continent.

The refinery, Africa’s largest, has been operating at its maximum capacity of 650,000 barrels per day and has already shipped 17 cargoes of gasoline to countries across the continent, Aliko Dangote, the refinery’s owner, said on Monday. The plant has also stepped up exports of urea as buyers seek alternative supplies, he added.

“What I can do is assure Nigerians… and most of West Africa, Central Africa, and East Africa, we have the capacity to supply them,” the billionaire said during a tour of the sprawling complex outside Lagos, Reuters reported.

Dangote said fertilizer shipments were increasingly being redirected to African markets that were not previously a focus. The plant can produce up to three million metric tons of urea a year, with most exports typically going to the US and South America, according to officials cited by Reuters.

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Fuel prices in oil-rich Nigeria have, however, hit record highs, with maximum output still failing to offset the impact of high crude prices. Dangote said he wanted more crude cargoes priced in local currency to help lower costs, after Reuters reported that state oil firm NNPC had increased May allocations to the refinery from five cargoes to seven.

The company has also said it is ready to export fuel to Europe, including the Netherlands, as it expands its reach beyond Africa.

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The export push comes as the Middle East conflict disrupts traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping chokepoint. A recent joint report by the African Union, the UN Economic Commission for Africa, and the World Bank warned that the conflict risked turning a trade shock into a broader cost-of-living crisis across Africa through higher fuel and food prices, rising transport costs, and pressure on already fragile currencies.

On Tuesday, Afreximbank said it had approved a $10 billion ‘Gulf Crisis Response Programme’ to help African and Caribbean economies, banks, and companies absorb the economic shock triggered by the crisis.

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