The President of Dangote group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has explained that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC will not pay for all the 20 per cent equity in his ongoing refinery being built in Lagos in cash transaction.
The 650,000 barrels per day refinery is expected to start operation in the first half of 2022, with the NNPC in the process of buying 20 per cent of the refinery.
Speaking on Arise News, the broadcasting arm of THISDAY newspapers on Tuesday, Dangote said only a third of the $2.7 billion deal with the NNPC would be paid in cash.
The other payments would be through crude sales and the third would be through profits made by the corporation, he added.
“So, these are the things that people don’t really understand and I want to really clarify it. When they talk about the $2.7 billion, you know, they (NNPC) are paying one third of the money.
“Another one third of the money, again, will actually be paid through supply of crude, with the deduction of maximum of about $2 and some cents. And then the one third of it, which is another $850 to $900 million will be paid from the profit they are going to make from the business.
“So it’s not a cash transaction where they are paying all cash. You can see that if we don’t have confidence in what we are doing, we would have asked them to pay all cash,” he stated.
Speaking on the benefits of the refinery, he pointed out that the project currently employs 29,000 Nigerians and 11, 000 foreigners with plans to ramp up the number to 57,000 in the coming months.
He added that the refinery is capable of meeting the country’s entire petrol, diesel and jet fuel needs, thereby helping the country to save the 25 per cent of its import bills currently being spent on bringing in petrol products into the country.
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