President Brice Oligui Nguema of Gabon has invited Africa’s wealthiest man, Aliko Dangote, to invest in his country.
According to Dangote Industries Limited, the billionaire was asked to explore investment opportunities in Cement and Fertiliser (Urea and Phosphate).
The invitation from Gabon, an oil-rich country, comes amid ongoing tensions between Dangote, oil marketers, and high-ranking government officials.
Dangote had previously revealed that a cabal was obstructing his attempts to import crude oil, which he claimed had hampered operations at his petroleum refinery.
The situation worsened when the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) stated that the Nigerian government had not yet licensed the Dangote Refinery to start operations.
Farouk Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NMDPRA, made this statement to State House correspondents on Thursday. He asserted that allegations of attempts to sabotage the Dangote Refinery’s operations due to a lack of crude oil supply from International Oil Companies were unfounded. Ahmed clarified that the refinery is still in the pre-commissioning stage and has not yet received its operational license.
He said, “There are lots of concerns about the supply of petroleum products nationwide and the claims by some media houses that we were trying to scuttle Dangote refinery; that is not so.
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“Dangote refinery is still in the pre-commissioning stage. It has not been licensed yet. We have not licensed them yet.
“I think they are at about 45 percent completion. So we can not rely heavily on one refinery to feed the nation because Dangote is requesting that we should suspend or stop all importation of petroleum products, especially automotive gas oil (AGO) or jet kero and direct all marketers to the refinery.”
“So, in terms of quality, currently, the AGO quality in terms of sulfur in the lowest as far as a West African requirement of 50 ppm.
“Dangote Refinery, as well as some major refineries, like Walter Smith’s refinery, other refineries, they produce 650 to 1,200 ppm. So, in terms of quality, their quality is much, much inferior to the imported commodities,” he added.
But Dangote kicked back, saying his products were of international standard, emphasising that tests had been done to that effect.
He also wondered why he was under attack, saying a friend who counselled him against pumping billions of dollars into the Nigerian economy taunted him over the turn of events.
Source: Daily Trust
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