Dangote eyes India’s Ambani success in refinery profits

Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, is reportedly seeking to emulate the business strategy of Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani by reinvesting the profits from his recently commissioned refinery into other sectors.

Dangote’s strategy mirrors Ambani’s, who has used the profits from his Reliance Industries’ petrochemical business to expand into areas such as telecom and retail.

In an interview with Bloomberg on Monday, Dangote said he visited Reliance Industries Ltd.’s Jamnagar plant in India, the world’s largest refining complex while seeking inspiration for the 650,000-barrel-a-day facility outside Lagos that started production this year.

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Dangote’s refinery, the largest in Africa, began operations earlier this year and is expected to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported refined petroleum products significantly. However, Dangote appears to have broader ambitions beyond the oil and gas industry.

The plant is likely to operate at full capacity in about four months, said Vartika Shukla, chairperson of Engineers India Ltd., the project manager for the refinery.

Dangote was warned by a high-ranking Saudi minister that the project was too big, but it was too late to turn back, the African tycoon said. Delays that stacked up, ranging from bankrupt suppliers to the global pandemic, dogged the project for years.

“The pressure was coming actually from different directions, the pressure of people confusing us, disturbing us every day,” he said.

Now that it’s finished, the refinery has the potential to make Nigeria one of the few nations on the continent that isn’t reliant on fuel imports.

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South Africa has discussed building new refining capacity for more than a decade, but the project has gained little traction. Ghana announced plans in August for a petroleum complex to include 300,000 barrels-a-day of capacity.

It’s not something Dangote would repeat and he doubts any government or group will be able to usurp his plant that stands as the biggest in Africa.

“Ghana will never ever do it,” he said. “No one else could’ve done this.”