President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, has challenged those claiming Aliko Dangote is attempting to dominate the oil business to build their own refineries in Nigeria rather than bringing in fuel and diesel from overseas.
This was disclosed in a statement by Adesina on Monday, addressing the conflict between federal oil regulators and Aliko Dangote, CEO of Dangote Group, according to Nairametrics.
The regulators recently accused Dangote of attempting to monopolize the energy industry.
According to Adesina, asking the federal government for protection and assistance in exchange for a $19 billion investment in Nigeria does not constitute a monopolization attempt.
He added that those who wish to compete should establish their own refineries in the country, as this would be fair and help drive local productivity and boost the economy.
‘In a nation that has been importing refined petroleum products for several decades, the abnormal simply became very normal. No smart investor would make a $19.5 billion investment and want it to be undermined by importers.
“To manufacture is extremely expensive and risky. This is even more so in Nigeria, given the very challenging business and economic environment, fraught with policy uncertainties and policy reversals, and where the self-defeating default mode of “simply import it” is always so easily rationalized and chorused to solve any problem.
“Competition is good for everyone. But is Dangote refineries anti-competitive? What is the evidence? Has Dangote refineries prevented any other company from setting up refineries? Why have others not done so? How come they have not done so for several decades? Was it Dangote that held them back? But Dangote refineries surely cannot be asked to ‘compete’ with importers of petroleum products.
“That is not competition. Let the importers set up local refineries and compete by refining in Nigeria. That is fair and justified competition. We cannot and must not undermine, disparage or kill local industries, talk less of one that is of this scale — a jewel of industrialisation in Nigeria,” Adeshina said.
Nigeria’s oil regulatory agencies, especially the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), have recently clashed with the Dangote Refinery.
Farouk Ahmed, the head of NMDPRA, accused the refinery and other local refineries of having high sulfur levels, up to 650 parts per million (ppm). He also suggested that Aliko Dangote, the CEO of the refinery, might be trying to monopolize the industry, which he believes could threaten the country’s energy security.
