Africa’s richest man,
Aliko Dangote,
has described his $23bn Dangote Refinery project as the “biggest risk” of his life, acknowledging the challenges he faced in bringing the venture to fruition.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Forbes on Monday, Dangote opened up about the risks involved in such a massive undertaking.
“It was the biggest risk of my life. If this didn’t work, I was dead,” he said.
Despite the refinery’s record capacity of 650,000 barrels per day and its rank as Africa’s largest, Dangote admitted that the road to completion was riddled with uncertainty.
Dangote also discussed the difficulties he encountered in financing the project, regulatory issues, and securing suppliers.
Dangote stated that he is committed to providing a blueprint for African industrialisation.
“We must construct our own nation by ourselves. We have to construct our own continent by ourselves, not [rely on] foreign investment.
He noted that Africa has been “a mere dumping ground for finished products,” and his refinery represents “a pivotal step in ensuring that Africa has the capacity to refine its own crude oil, thereby creating wealth and prosperity for its vast population,” he said.
Dangote remains undeterred by the hurdles, determined to secure the success of his refinery.
According to Forbes, despite opening a family office in Dubai and putting his three daughters in various jobs within the family business, his attention is still firmly on Nigeria.
He continues to spend a significant amount of time at the refinery, meeting with engineers and managers on a regular basis to monitor progress.
He is also working on major projects, such as constructing a subsea pipeline to transfer natural gas from the Niger Delta to Lagos and expanding the refinery’s fertilizer facility.
Looking ahead, he intends to make the refinery public within the next year or two.
“I’ve been fighting battles all my life, and I have not lost one yet,” he said.
