He has poured this money into building a $9 billion oil refinery in Nigeria. It will be the largest privately owned refinery in the country. Nigeria is Africa’s largest producer of oil, but because the refineries in the country are rundown, inefficient, and often poorly managed, the country ends up importing the majority of its motor fuel. At the same time, the entire continent is seeing an increase in buying power, and suddenly cars are becoming more commonplace. Additionally, new airlines are being launched in Africa almost monthly. Due to the shortage in fuel, some of the new airlines have taken to putting kerosene in their tanks! Dangote’s ambitious, large, state-of-the-art refinery near Lagos is being built with the idea that he can change all that. He plans to have it up and running in two years. If he succeeds, the refinery will have a major impact on the country’s wealth, and explode his net worth, as well. Right now, the only thing standing in his way is a few pesky licenses from the Nigerian government. They currently (poorly) control all of the major refineries in Nigeria, and they are not too interested in competition. However, if anyone can make it happen, it is Aliko Dangote.
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