Original image, Getty Images
The richest man in Africa, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has increased his wealth, where his wealth has doubled due to the start of his oil refinery.
Now the fortune of the rich man has increased to 27.8 billion dollars, according to the report of the magazine ‘Bloomberg Billionaire Index’ – an analysis of the world’s richest people.
The Dangote oil refinery, which was opened in Lagos state in southern Nigeria, is the first of its kind, capable of refining almost any type of crude oil.
The refinery can bring about a significant change in the Nigerian economy, by making the country self-reliant in the oil sector.
Regarding the challenges he faced in building the refinery, Dangote said he would not wish even his greatest enemy to go through such trouble.
“I didn’t know we were building something that would disturb us,” said the 67-year-old Dangote during a visit to New York.
“The problems come from many sides, many people are confusing us that we can’t do it, and even if we do it, we won’t succeed,” as reported by Bloomberg.
Since the refinery started working in January, there have been various conflicts between it and the government and the oil company of the country, and its benefits for the citizens and its impact on the environment.
For Dangote – who became a billionaire with the cement business – the opening of the oil refinery was a major project in his life.
The refinery took 11 years to build and cost $20 billion, and most of the work was done by him.
Dangote’s business environment
Original image, Getty Images
Dangote, who is now graying with age, is a wealthy businessman.
His main business is consumer goods, usually cement, sugar, salt and flour.
His wealth is surprising because in the country he is in, 40 percent of its people live in poverty, and most of the country’s wealth is in oil.
However, Dangote’s critics believe that his success is related to his nationality, and he uses the opportunity to do business at home, but he is proud of his contribution to the advancement of the Nigerian industrial sector.
But in the part of opening the oil refinery, he ran into problems.
The original place where he wanted to open the refinery was confiscated, after he had to deal with conflicts with the villagers.
Later he moved to the south of Lagos state, where he also faced some challenges with people.
After he was given the new land, it was a valley, where he had to do the work of draining and filling it for about five feet (1.5 meters) to prevent flooding. The company built a dam and a dock for the refinery.
Two years after the construction started, the corona epidemic broke out.
Some of the companies that supply him have financial problems and have stopped.
On the other hand, Dangote pays $50 million to $60 million annually as interest on the $5.5 billion loan he received from local banks.
But after opening the refinery this year, it had to start looking for crude oil from European countries, which made it more expensive.
In most of his business dealings, Dangote has a good relationship with Nigerian leaders, which helps his business.
However, he did not get this with the current president of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu.
In January, the EFCC raided the Dangote company’s office in its investigation into foreign financial affairs.
The raid by the Dangote group of companies was described as “insulting,”
The spokesperson of the Nigerian government did not say anything about the issue.
The lack of good relations increased after Dangote came out and started talking.
At a meeting, Dangote compared “the elites of the oil sector to the elites of the drug industry”.
And he did not hide the disagreement between him and Nigeria’s largest oil company, NNPC, which is the country’s oil company that will help him get crude oil to refine.
To make it worse for them, he entered into an agreement with the company in 2021 to sell them 20 percent of the refinery at a price of 13.8 billion dollars. But that was not possible, so they went back to buy 7.2 percent.
“It is a case that is full of secrets, and it is full of corrupt people.”
The NNPC spokesperson did not say anything about this.
The man who did not finish speaking, suddenly started talking, which brought up the issue of the foreign filter, as Zainab Usman, an economic and political expert and director of the Africa Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said.
“He spent 20 billion dollars to build the refinery because it helped the country, but there is a group of politicians who see the refinery as a threat to some of their businesses, and they want to undermine him,” she said.
“The way he came out and spoke about the situation brought him more honor and dignity.”
Leave a good legacy behind
Now, developing wealth at any level in Nigeria is very difficult.
The value of the Nigerian currency, the naira, has almost doubled against the dollar since Tinubu lifted the ban on foreign exchange.
Dangote said 80 percent of his business is in dollars.
He said that his company will eventually become the largest producer of dollars in Nigeria, a country that is suffering from the lack of American currency.
The way Dangote loves Nigeria is real. He has been living in his house in Lagos for almost 34 years.
But he will open an office in Dubai to expand his business under the supervision of his daughter Halima who moved there recently.
He has a foundation that gives out millions of dollars in grants every year, but he will also increase his expenses for the grant.
He said that he started planning to go back in business so that his children can continue, including his grandson who will graduate from university soon.
He said that his daughters are grown up now, compared to when he bought his first plane at the age of 23, and when he built his mansion at the age of 33.
The difficulties he faced in building the oil refinery made him start to lose his life and expand the business, but he said he is proud of the project.
“I am happy and proud because I have left something that will be remembered for me, especially in Africa,” he said.
