Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, says he might not have embarked on the $20 billion Dangote Refinery project if he had fully grasped its scale and complexity from the start.
Speaking on Monday while receiving members of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Lagos branch, at the Dangote Refinery in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, Dangote admitted the project turned out to be far bigger than initially imagined.
“Honestly, if we had fully understood the magnitude and challenges involved, we may not have even attempted it,” he said. “It was our courage — or maybe naivety — that got us this far.”
Dangote highlighted the refinery’s massive scale, including the capacity to handle 600 product vessels and 240 crude oil tankers annually. He described the construction journey as extremely challenging, from swampy terrain to extensive dredging operations involving 65 million cubic metres of sand sourced 20 kilometres offshore.
“We had to manually uproot thousands of trees. Sand-filling alone took 18 months. Still, we made a deliberate decision to protect the livelihoods of nearby fishing communities,” he said.
Dangote also underscored his commitment to empowering Nigerian engineers through such industrial projects. He assured the NSE delegates that many more projects were in the pipeline, with a focus on building local technical capacity.
“Even if we don’t have jobs for everyone, we must still train people. Skills are assets, whether used here or abroad. Nigeria should be exporting knowledge, not just oil,” he said.
He revealed that while the refinery project was initially expected to employ 50,000 foreign workers, it eventually used only about 12,000 to 14,000 expatriates, with most of the workforce being Nigerian.
“Eighty-five percent of the commissioning work was done by Nigerians. It’s not just because I’m an engineer, but because they’ve proven they’re among the best,” he said. “We’re now our own EPC contractors — building this country ourselves.”
Chairman of NSE Lagos branch, Mrs. Olukorede Kesha, praised the refinery as a major engineering milestone for Africa.
“We’ve heard so much about it, but seeing it firsthand is extraordinary. If we had more of such projects, poverty and unemployment would fade,” she said.
Kesha also noted that the dominance of Nigerian manpower in the refinery was proof of the country’s technical potential, urging more support for local professionals.
The engineers also visited the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project, describing it as a significant national infrastructure development.
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