|By Adejumo Adekunle
…Africa spends $90bn annually on refined product imports
…Continental reliance makes Africa dumping ground for substandard fuels
President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has disclosed that his refinery imports between 9 and 10 million barrels of crude oil every month, mostly from the United States, making America Nigeria’s primary crude supplier.
Dangote made this known while addressing stakeholders at the ongoing West African Refined Fuel Conference in Abuja, where he highlighted the implications of Africa’s overdependence on imported petroleum products.
He noted that despite Nigeria being Africa’s largest crude oil producer, the country still relies heavily on imported crude to sustain its refining needs. “As we speak today, we buy 9–10 million barrels of crude monthly from the U.S. and other countries. I must thank NNPC for making some cargoes of Nigerian crude available to us from the start of production to date,” Dangote stated.
He warned that Africa’s limited refining capacity has forced the continent to import over 120 million tonnes of refined petroleum products annually, costing nearly $90 billion. This, he said, has turned Africa into a dumping ground for cheap and often substandard fuels.
“Instead of self-reliance, we’re exposed to external market shocks and exploitative trading patterns,” he said, adding that this is not sustainable for a continent with vast natural resources.
In September 2024, the Dangote Refinery — with a capacity to process 650,000 barrels of crude daily — began rolling out refined products in Nigeria. Despite this milestone, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that U.S. crude exports to Nigeria reached 111,000 barrels per day in February 2025 and 169,000 b/d in March. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s crude imports from the U.S. declined from 133,000 b/d in January to 54,000 and 72,000 b/d in February and March, respectively.
This situation raises concerns, considering Nigeria’s status as Africa’s top crude producer, a position confirmed by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Still, the country remains reliant on foreign inputs to sustain its domestic refining efforts.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) recently announced that crude oil and condensate production hit 1.68 million barrels per day in June 2025, marking the highest output in the past six months — a potential step toward self-sufficiency if effectively harnessed.
Dangote’s revelation has stirred debate over the need for improved investment in local refining infrastructure across Africa, as leaders seek to reverse the continent’s dependency and reduce economic outflows tied to fuel imports.
