27 June 2016, Lagos — The Chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has said the ongoing refinery project in Lekki area of Lagos which was earlier projected to cost N2.8trillion would now be completed at the cost of N4.8trillion due to the prevailing foreign exchange depreciation in the country.
He also revealed the impact of the new foreign exchange policy on the project saying that “we lost almost N50 billion to new forex regime.”
“Every single kobo we make in the country is ploughed back into the economy. I don’t have a single block outside Nigeria, I am a proud Nigerian and I believe in this country,” he said.
He spoke weekend in Lagos during the tour of the facility by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, where he also said he was committed to the multi-billion dollar project to aid the nation’s economy despite the development.
He said that contrary to speculations, the company had not gotten substantial forex from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
He however said Nigeria would save $7.5bn yearly on import substitution from the project when completed, adding that it would crash the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) because the product is refined in-country.
According to him, the best way of diversification for Nigeria was agriculture and our fertelizer plant was in line with that goal.
He also spoke on allegations of conflict with the host community, saying there were no issues, adding that the past issues were between two communities and the state government.
“We did not buy the land from communities, we bought our land (swamp) at $100 million and the filling up the swamp to become solid land is costing us another $420 million.
- Daily Trust
