Lagos, May 23 (EFECOM).- The outgoing president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, inaugurated this Monday in Lagos -the most populous city in the country- the largest oil refinery in Africa, the Nigerian government reported on its social network account Twitter.
The refinery, owned by Aliko Dangote, the richest man on the African continent, has the capacity to produce 650,000 barrels per day and its construction has cost about 19,000 million dollars (about 17,600 million euros).
Buhari called the infrastructure a “milestone” for the country’s economy and a “turning point for the petroleum products market not only in Nigeria but in the entire African continent.”
The refinery is expected to solve some of the problems for Nigeria, which, despite being one of Africa’s top crude producers, lacks the capacity to refine its own oil.
A large number of these products are imported from other countries such as India, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates and the Netherlands.
“Our first objective is to increase the production of the various products to ensure that this year we can fully meet the national demand for quality products,” Dangote said at the opening ceremony.
“We have built a refinery with the capacity to process 650,000 barrels per day in a single train, which is the largest (of this type) in the world. We have selected the best plants, equipment and the latest technologies from around the world,” said the Magnate.
This is one of the last important projects to be inaugurated by Buhari, in power since 2015 and who will leave office next Monday after serving two terms.
The outgoing president will pass the baton to the official Bola Tinubu, who won the disputed presidential elections last February.
“I am happy to leave our economy in very competent hands,” Buhari said in a statement posted by the Nigerian government on Twitter today. EFECOM
bb-pa/ltm
