Economy
Dangote Refinery Finally Hits Full 650,000-Barrel Per Day Capacity
By Adedapo Adesanya
Dangote Refinery has reached its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day following the successful optimisation of critical processing units, marking a turning point for Africa’s largest refinery, located in Lagos.
The $20 billion facility is now operating at full capacity, a world-record milestone for a single-train refinery.
This achievement comes after the completion of an intensive performance testing on the refinery’s Crude Distillation Unit and Motor Spirit production block.
According to the chief executive of Dangote Refinery, Mr David Bird, the refinery is now positioned to supply up to 75 million litres of petrol daily to the domestic market, a dramatic increase from the 45 million – 50 million litres delivered during the recent festive period.
The development can reshape Nigeria’s energy landscape and reduce the country’s longstanding dependence on imported refined products.
“Our teams have demonstrated exceptional precision and expertise in stabilising both the CDU and MS Block,” Mr Bird said. “This milestone underscores the strength, reliability, and engineering quality that define our operations.”
The refinery has completed a 72-hour series of performance test runs in collaboration with technology licensor UOP, a Honeywell company, to validate operational efficiency and confirm that all critical parameters meet international standards.
The tests covered the naphtha hydrotreater, isomerisation unit, and reformer unit, which together form the backbone of the facility’s gasoline production capability.
The milestone marks another achievement for the businessman and majority stake owner at the facility in his ambition to transform Nigeria from Africa’s largest crude oil producer into a refining powerhouse.
Since the commencement of the facility in 2016, it has faced numerous setbacks, including pandemic-related delays, foreign exchange challenges, and technical complications.
It was finally commissioned in May 2023 to help wean Nigeria off imported petroleum products, due to the chronic underperformance of its state-owned refineries.
Despite being Africa’s largest crude producer, the country has not been able to self-produce, even with four state-owned refineries with a combined capacity of 445,000 barrels per day. This has led to decades of high dependency on importation.
The Dangote refinery’s emergence at full capacity has the potential to eliminate this import dependence while positioning Nigeria as a net exporter to West African markets.
Yet, the refinery faces difficulty securing adequate crude oil supplies from Nigerian producers, forcing it to import feedstock from the US, Brazil, Angola, and other countries.
Mr Bird also confirmed that Phase 2 performance test runs for the remaining processing units are scheduled to commence next week, suggesting further capacity optimisation ahead.
The official emphasised the refinery’s commitment to “enhancing Nigeria’s energy security while supporting industrial development, job creation, and economic diversification.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
To boost Nigeria’s cocoa export value chain, Sunbeth Global Concepts Limited has secured approval to issue commercial papers worth N200 billion to investors.
In the first tranche, the cocoa exporter will sell the debt instrument worth about N100 billion in three series across three tenors of 180 days, 270 days and 364 days.
Subscription for the CP commenced on Friday, February 27, 2026, and will close on Thursday, March 5, 2026, with allotment and settlement scheduled for Friday, March 6, 2026.
Interested investors can purchase the commercial papers with a minimum of N5 million and in multiples of N1,000 thereafter.
The company stated that proceeds from the exercise would be used to finance contractual working capital requirements, including inventory procurement and the execution of physical and hedged offtake obligations within its export operations.
The Chief Operating Officer of Sunbeth, Mr Nzubechukwu Anisiobi, said the programme reflects the firm’s disciplined capital strategy and strong credit fundamentals.
“The establishment of our N200 billion Commercial Paper Programme reflects our disciplined capital strategy and solid credit profile.
“In a working capital-intensive export business, access to structured short-term funding strengthens liquidity, supports efficient contract execution and preserves balance sheet stability,” he stated.
Further emphasising investor confidence in the company’s governance and risk framework, he noted that, “The Programme underscores the confidence the capital markets have in our governance standards, earnings resilience and robust risk management discipline.”
Sunbeth, which is a top-five non-oil export contributor in Nigeria, was established in 2017 and has exported over 200,000 metric tonnes of cocoa beans and 60,000 metric tonnes of cashew nuts to international markets.
In 2025, it recorded over N600 billion in revenue, reinforcing its scale within Nigeria’s agricultural export ecosystem.
The organisation works directly with more than 30,000 farmers and collaborates with over 250 local buying agents across Nigeria.
Its global strategic partners include Cargill, GCB Group, JB Cocoa, Touton, Macquarie and StoneX, enabling diversified offtake and multi-destination market access across Europe, Asia and the United States.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Five price advancers buoyed the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.88 per cent on Tuesday, March 3, as the demand for unlisted stocks continues to grow.
During the session, the market capitalisation added N46.64 billion to close at N2.524 trillion versus the Monday session’s N2.477 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased by 77.94 points to finish at 4,219.47 points compared with the previous day’s 4,141.53 points.
11 Plc gained N13.23 yesterday to sell at N290.23 per share compared with the preceding session’s N277.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by N7.76 to N117.76 per unit from N110.00 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc improved by N7.05 to N84.05 per share from N70.00 per share, First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc added 17 Kobo to close at N1.92 per unit versus N1.75 per unit, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc advanced by 4 Kobo to settle at 49 Kobo per share versus 45 Kobo per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc dropped 37 Kobo to sell at N3.39 per unit compared with the previous day’s N3.76 per unit, and NASD Plc dipped 20 to N56.21 per share from N56.41 per share.
On Tuesday, the volume of securities went down by 19.6 per cent to 1.4 million units from 1.8 million units, but the value of securities increased by 447.2 per cent to N93.4 million from N17.1 million, and the number of deals soared by 118.5 per cent to 59 deals from 27 deals.
At the close of transactions, CSCS Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 35.8 million units sold for N2.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 6.3 million units worth N1.1 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc exchanged 122.8 million units valued at N480.4 million.
The most active stock by volume (year-to-date) was Resourcery Plc with 1.05 billion units worth N408.7 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 122.8 million units worth N480.4 million, and CSCS Plc with 35.8 million units transacted for N2.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira continued to depreciate against the United States Dollar in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Tuesday, March 4.
During the session, it lost N6.27 or 0.46 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) to close at N1,384.29/$1, in contrast to the previous trading day’s N1,378.02/$1.
The local currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N3.92 to quote at N1,842.22/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,846.14/£1, but gained N6.79 on the Euro to close at N1,606.19/€1 compared with Monday’s rate of N1,612.98/€1.
In the parallel market, the Naira further lost N10 against the Dollar during the trading day to settle at N1,375/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,375/$1, and at the GTBank FX desk, it was traded at N1,373/$1.
The exchange rate has been trending down for over 10 days following an unusual FX purchase activity by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the official market in February.
However, the Naira is expected to trade with a stable bias in line with prevailing market demand and supply dynamics, supported by an improving external reserves position.
Nigeria’s strong net reserves position has been touted as enough, as it rose 50.5 per cent year-on-year to $34.8 billion in 2025 from $23.11 billion in 2024.
The Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, said that the growth in external reserves reflects stronger external sector fundamentals and sustained policy reforms.
He stated that the figures emphasised the benefits of increased transparency and credibility in foreign exchange management, boosting investor confidence, attracting stronger FX inflows, and improving reserve management practices aimed at preserving capital, ensuring liquidity, and supporting long-term sustainability.
As for the cryptocurrency market, most majors recovered from the weekend lows but couldn’t sustain it over a 24-hour trading period, leaving the market in a holding pattern while it waits for clarity on the Iran situation.
Cardano (ADA) slumped 3.5 per cent to $0.2600, Dogecoin (DOGE) dropped 2.7 per cent to trade at $0.0889, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 1.2 per cent to $1,970.48, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 0.8 per cent to $1.35, and Solana (SOL) decreased by 0.6 per cent to sell at $85.22.
On the flip side, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 1.2 per cent to $54.60, Bitcoin (BTC) added 0.5 per cent to sell for $68,207.17, and Binance Coin (BNB) rose 0.1 per cent to $632.25, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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