Africa’s top industrialist, Aliko Dangote, has sounded a stark warning: the dumping of discounted Russian petroleum products is placing the continent’s refining future at serious risk.
Speaking at a major oil conference in Abuja, Nigeria’s billionaire business magnate said Western sanctions on Russian crude have led Moscow to redirect fuel exports to African markets — often at cutthroat prices and with questionable quality.
“We are increasingly facing the dumping of cheap, often toxic petroleum products,” Dangote said, describing the influx as a major economic and environmental threat. He urged African governments to tighten fuel quality standards, impose tariffs, and introduce environmental protections to prevent long-term damage.
Dangote, who launched Africa’s largest oil refinery near Lagos in 2023 — a $20 billion complex with a 650,000 barrels-per-day capacity — revealed that despite the milestone, sourcing local crude remains difficult. He now plans to expand operations to 700,000 barrels per day to meet rising demand and counter unfair competition.
He also condemned the Lomé floating oil market off Togo’s coast, where international traders store millions of barrels of petroleum products. According to him, the market serves as a backdoor entry point for unregulated fuel that undermines domestic refineries.
While Africa produces around 7 million barrels of crude daily, only 40 percent of its fuel needs are refined on the continent. Dangote’s refinery has already exported one million tonnes of petrol since June, but experts say lenient African regulations are giving foreign players an upper hand.
Although Africa is not a top destination for Russian fuel — compared to countries like Turkey and Brazil — the threat is growing. Russian diesel and gasoil exports to Africa fell 30 percent in June, totaling 0.7 million tonnes, but the long-term trend remains worrying for local industry.
Dangote’s message is clear: Without swift policy action, Africa’s dream of refining independence could collapse under the weight of cheap foreign fuel.
