Economy
Cheap, Toxic Petroleum Products From Russia Flooding African Markets—Dangote
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Foremost Nigerian businessman, Mr Aliko Dangote, has climbed to the rooftop to alert over the growing influx of discounted, low-quality fuel originating from Russia, blended with Russian crude under price caps and dumped in African markets.
He, therefore, called on African governments to follow the example of the United States, Canada, and the European Union, which have implemented protective measures for domestic refiners.
“We are now facing increasing dumping of cheap, often toxic, petroleum products—some of which are blended to substandard levels that would never be allowed in Europe or North America,” Mr Dangote lamented at the West African Refined Fuel Conference held in Abuja.
The crude oil refinery owner in Lagos said due to the continent’s limited domestic refining capacity, Africa imports over 120 million tonnes of refined petroleum products annually, at a cost of approximately $90 billion.
“As we speak today, we buy 9 – 10 million barrels of crude monthly from US and other countries. I must thank NNPC for making some cargoes of Nigerian crude available to us from start of production to date,” he disclosed at the event organised by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and S&P Global Commodity Insights.
While appreciating the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited for making some cargoes of Nigerian crude available to his facility from start of production to date, he revealed that the company, monthly import between 9-10 million barrels of crude from the United States of America and other countries.
According to him, despite producing around 7 million barrels of crude oil per day, Africa only refines about 40% of its 4.3 million barrels daily consumption of refined products domestically. In stark contrast, Europe and Asia refine over 95 per cent of what they consume.
“So, while we produce plenty of crude, we still import over 120 million tonnes of refined petroleum products each year, effectively exporting jobs and importing poverty into our continent. That’s a $90 billion market opportunity being captured by regions with surplus refining capacity. To put this in perspective: only about 15 per cent of African countries have a GDP greater than $90 billion. We are effectively handing over an entire continent’s economic potential to others—year after year,” he said.
While reaffirming his belief in the power of free markets and international cooperation, Mr Dangote emphasised that trade must be grounded in economic efficiency and comparative advantage — not at the expense of quality or safety standards.
He stressed that, “it defies logic and economic sense for Africa to be exporting raw crude only to re-import refined products—products we are more than capable of producing ourselves, closer to both source and consumption.”
Reflecting on the experience of delivering the world’s largest single-train refinery, the industrialist also highlighted a range of challenges faced, including technical, commercial, and contextual hurdles unique to the African landscape.
Africa’s wealthiest man described building refineries such as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery as one of the most capital-intensive and logistically complex industrial facilities ever constructed. The Dangote refinery project, he said, required clearing 2,735 hectares of land (seven times the size of Victoria Island), of which 70 per cent was swampy, requiring the pumping of 65 million cubic metres of sand to stabilise the site and raise it by 1.5 metres, over 250,000 foundation piles, and millions of metres of piping, cabling, and electrical wiring among others.
“At peak, we had over 67,000 people on-site of which 50,000 are Nigerians, coordinating around the clock across hundreds of disciplines and nationalities. Then, of course, came the COVID-19 pandemic which set us back by two years and brought new levels of complexity, disruption, and risk. But we persevered,” he noted.
The refinery also required the construction of a dedicated seaport, as existing Nigerian ports could not handle the size and volume of equipment required. This included over 2,500 pieces of heavy equipment, 330 cranes, and even the establishment of the world’s largest granite quarry, with a production capacity of 10 million tonnes per year.
“In short, we didn’t just build a refinery—we built an entire industrial ecosystem from scratch,” he said.
Despite the refinery’s technical success, Dangote identified significant commercial challenges, particularly exchange rates which have gone from N156/$ at inception to N1,600/$ at completion, and challenges around crude oil sourcing. Although Nigeria is said to produce about 2 million barrels per day, the refinery has struggled to secure crude at competitive terms.
“Rather than buying crude oil directly from Nigerian producers at competitive terms, we found ourselves having to negotiate with international trading companies, who were buying Nigerian crude and reselling it to us—with hefty premiums, of course.
“Logistics and regulatory bottlenecks have also taken a toll. Port and regulatory charges reportedly account for 40 per cent of total freight costs, sometimes costing two-thirds as much as chartering the vessel itself.
“Refiners in India, who purchase crude oil from regions even farther away, enjoy lower freight costs than we do right here in West Africa because they are not saddled with exorbitant port charges,” Mr Dangote said.
He added that, in terms of port charges, it is currently more expensive to load a domestic cargo of petroleum products from the Dangote Refinery, as customers pay both at the point of loading and at the point of discharge. In contrast, when they load from Lomé, which competes with them, they pay only at the point of discharge.
Dangote further criticised the lack of harmonised fuel standards across African nations, which creates artificial barriers for regional trade in refined products.
“The fuel we produce for Nigeria cannot be sold in Cameroon or Ghana or Togo, even though we all drive the same vehicles. This lack of harmonisation benefits no one—except, of course, international traders, who thrive on arbitrage. For local refiners like us, it fragments the market and imposes unnecessary inefficiencies.”
Mr Dangote, stating the challenge with diesel production in Africa, noted, “To give one example, the diesel cloud point for Nigeria is 4 degrees. Without going into the technical details, this means that the diesel should work at a temperature of 4 degrees centigrade. Achieving this comes at a cost to us and limits the types of crude we could process. But how many places in Nigeria experience temperatures of 4 degrees? Other African countries have a more reasonable range of 7 to 12 degrees. This is a low hanging fruit which could be addressed by the regulators.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The World Bank has approved a $500 million facility for Nigeria to expand longer-term lending to small and medium sized businesses.
Approved under the Fostering Inclusive Finance for MSMEs in Nigeria (FINCLUDE) project, the package comprises a $400 million International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) loan and a $100 million International Development Association (IDA) credit. Both IBRD and IDA are members of the World Bank Group.
The scheme will be implemented by the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), with credit guarantees provided through DBN’s subsidiary, Impact Credit Guarantee Limited (ICGL).
FINCLUDE is designed to address constraints faced by micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria which despite accounting for most businesses and nearly half of gross domestic product (GDP) face long-standing barriers to formal finance.
Fewer than one in 20 MSMEs have access to bank credit; loans are often short-term and costly; and collateral requirements exclude many viable firms. Women-led enterprises, which make up a substantial portion of MSMEs, are disproportionately affected, facing higher rejection rates and limited tailored products. Agribusinesses, central to food security and rural livelihoods, similarly struggle to obtain more extended‑tenor financing for equipment, processing, storage, and logistics.
However, FINCLUDE seeks to address these constraints by expanding access to affordable, longer-term finance and tailored solutions for segments with the most significant development impact.
Speaking on this, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Mr Mathew Verghis, said, “FINCLUDE is about jobs, opportunity, and inclusion. By expanding access to finance for viable MSMEs—particularly women-led firms and agribusinesses—Nigeria can accelerate growth and deliver tangible benefits across communities nationwide.
“The project will make it easier for deserving small businesses to get the finance they need to grow and hire workers. With better support for lenders that practice inclusive finance and fairer, longer-term loans for entrepreneurs, we are backing the people who power Nigeria’s economy—especially women and those in agriculture.”
The FINCLUDE project will help to mobilise private investment and expand access to and usage of inclusive, innovative financial products for MSMEs nationwide.
Through DBN, the operation will strengthen the capacity of banks, including microfinance banks and non-bank financial institutions such as financial technologies (fintechs), to provide larger loans with more reasonable repayment periods, and—through ICGL—will scale partial credit guarantees so that lenders can extend credit to businesses they might otherwise consider too risky.
Targeted technical assistance will modernise loan appraisal by leveraging AI-enabled digital platforms to accelerate decision-making, improve data quality, strengthen impact measurement, and build capacity for both MSMEs and participating financial institutions.
According to the World Bank, a strong emphasis on inclusion will ensure that women-led businesses and agribusinesses benefit from these improvements.
Also commenting, Task Team Leader for FINCLUDE, Mrs Hadija Kamayo, said, “FINCLUDE will help to mobilize approximately $1.89 billion in private capital, expand debt financing to 250,000 MSMEs—including at least 150,000 women-led businesses and 100,000 agribusinesses—and issue up to $800 million in guarantees to catalyse lending.
“By extending the average maturity of MSME loans to about three years, it will help firms invest in equipment, factories, staff, and productivity, translating finance into jobs and growth.”
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market firmed up by 1.13 per cent on Friday as appetite for Nigerian stocks remained strong.
Investors reacted well to the 2026 budget presentation of President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly yesterday, especially because of the more realistic crude oil benchmark of $64 per barrel compared with the ambitious $75 per barrel for 2025. This year, prices have been between $60 and $65 per barrel.
Business Post observed profit-taking in the commodity and energy sectors as they respectively shed 0.14 per cent and 0.03 per cent.
But, bargain-hunting in the others sustained the positive run, with the consumer goods index up by 3.82 per cent.
Further, the industrial goods space appreciated by 1.46 per cent, the banking counter improved by 0.08 per cent, and the insurance industry gained 0.04 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,694.33 points to 152,057.38 points from 150,363.05 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N1.080 trillion to finish at N96.937 trillion compared with Thursday’s closing value of N95.857 trillion.
A total of 34 shares ended on the advancers’ chart, while 24 were on the laggards’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
Austin Laz gained 10.00 per cent to close at N2.42, Union Dicon also jumped 10.00 per cent to N6.60, Tantalizers increased by 9.80 per cent to N2.69, Aluminium Extrusion improved by 9.78 per cent to N12.35, and Champion Breweries grew by 9.71 per cent to N16.95.
Conversely, Sovereign Trust Insurance dipped by 7.42 per cent to N3.87, Royal Exchange lost 6.84 per cent to trade at N1.77, Omatek slipped by 6.84 per cent to N1.09, Eunisell depreciated by 5.88 per cent to N80.00, and Eterna dropped 5.63 per cent to close at N28.50.
Yesterday, traders transacted 1.5 billion units worth N21.8 billion in 25,667 deals compared with the 839.8 million units sold for N32.8 billion in 23,211 deals in the preceding session, showing a surge in the trading volume by 76.61 per cent, an uptick in the number of deals by 10.58 per cent, and a shrink in the trading value by 33.54 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three stocks stretched the bearish run of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.21 per cent on Friday, December 19, with the market capitalisation giving up N26.01 billion to close at N2.121 billion compared with the N2.147 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropping 43.47 points to 3,546.41 points from 3,589.88 points.
The trio of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, and NASD Plc overpowered the gains printed by four other securities.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N6.00 to sell at N54.00 per unit versus N60.00 per unit, NASD Plc shrank by N3.50 to N58.50 per share from N55.00 per share, and CSCS Plc depleted by N2.91 to N33.87 per unit from N36.78 per unit.
On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc gained N1.01 to close at N13.00 per share versus N11.99 per share, Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 70 Kobo to N7.68 per unit from N6.98 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc added 39 Kobo to sell at N5.50 per share versus N5.11 per share, and IPWA Plc rose by 8 Kobo to 85 Kobo per unit from 77 Kobo per unit.
During the trading day, market participants traded 1.9 million securities versus the previous day’s 30.5 million securities showing a decline of 49.3 per cent. The value of trades went down by 64.3 per cent to N80.3 million from N225.1 million, but the number of deals jumped by 32.1 per cent to 37 deals from 28 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc finished the session as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units traded for N4.9 billion.
The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was still InfraCredit Plc with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
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