THE Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has described the Dangote Petroleum Refinery as a project that will revolutionise the petroleum industry in not only Nigeria, but the rest of Africa by extension.

Speaking during a media tour of the 650,000 barrels-per-day, $19bn facility at Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State,  Mohammed said the refinery would be a game changer once it is fully operational.

The Minister, who also went on tour of the $2.5bn Dangote Fertiliser Plant, said the refinery’s operations would significantly boost Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product.

He said, “After visiting the facilities, one can conveniently say that Dangote is leading Nigeria’s industrial revolution. The coming into being of such huge industrial complexes as the Dangote Fertiliser Company and the refinery were made possible by the enabling environment provided by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Today, businesses are springing up in all sectors, thanks to a conducive business environment. Under this Administration, the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council has implemented over 150 reforms, moving Nigeria up 39 places on the World Bank Doing Business index since 2016. Mr. President also signed the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 (CAMA 2020) – Nigeria’s most significant business legislation in three decades.

“The result of this favourable business environment is the birth of new businesses such as the $2.5 billion Dangote Fertiliser Plant that will produce three million metric tonnes of Urea every year; the 650,000 barrels-per-day oil refinery due to open later this year; Lekki Deep Sea Port, one of the most modern sea ports in West Africa; the 5,000 barrels-per-day Modular Refinery in Ibigwe, Imo State, and three more modular refineries to be commissioned before May 2023 in Edo and Bayelsa states just to mention a few.”

Speaking on the economic potentials of the recently launched Dangote Fertiliser plant, Mohammed said prior to the inauguration of the present administration, Nigeria had a fertiliser shortfall of about 3.5 million tonnes per annum.

According to him, with the unveiling of the Dangote fertiliser plant, Nigeria is now self-sufficient in the production of urea.

“In fact, Nigeria is now the leading producer of Urea in Africa. The Dangote Fertiliser plant is already exporting to the US, India, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. We were fortunate to witness a ship being loaded with urea for export to Argentina,” he added.

The minister said the conducive business environment created by the government and its support had enabled the coming on stream of the fertiliser plant which was inaugurated recently by the president. He said the 650,000 barrels-per-day refinery was due for opening later this year, adding that both projects would guarantee food and energy security for Nigerians.

Also speaking, Group Executive Director, Strategy, Capital Projects and Portfolio Development, Dangote Industries Limited, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, thanked the government for the support towards the completion of the projects.