Seeks Protection For Local Industries From Unfair Competition

Africa’s richest man, and President/Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Aliko Dangote, has expressed worry at the growing influx of discounted, low-quality fuel originating from Russia, blended with Russian crude under price caps, which are then dumped in African markets.

By so doing, he said at the ongoing West African Refined Fuel Conference held in Abuja, that the continent is handing over its economic potential to others and exporting jobs while importing poverty back into the continent.

To make matters worse, he said, Africa is “now facing increasing dumping of cheap, often toxic, petroleum products—some of which are blended to substandard levels that would never be allowed in Europe or North America.

“So, while we produce plenty of crude, we still import over 120m tonnes of refined petroleum products each year, effectively exporting jobs and importing poverty into our continent. That’s a $90 billion market opportunity being captured by regions with surplus refining capacity. To put this in perspective: only about 15% of African countries have a GDP greater than $90 billion. We are effectively handing over an entire continent’s economic potential to others—year after year,” he said.

Africa, Dangote lamented, is increasingly becoming a destination for cheap, often toxic petroleum products — many of which are blended to substandard levels that would not be permitted in Europe or North America.

He further stressed that despite producing around 7 million barrels of crude oil per day, Africa only refines about 40% of its 4.3 million barrels daily consumption of refined products domestically. In stark contrast, Europe and Asia refine over 95% of what they consume.

He, therefore, charged to African leaders to take deliberate steps—just as the U.S., Canada, and the EU have done—to protect domestic producers from unfair competition, for the continent to experience real growth and development.