Billionaire Aliko Dangote has described his $23 billion Dangote Refinery project as the “biggest risk” of his life, acknowledging the immense challenges he faced in bringing the ambitious venture to life.
In an exclusive interview with Forbes on Monday, February 17, Dangote discussed the risks involved in such a monumental undertaking.
“It was the biggest risk of my life. If this didn’t work, I was done,” he said. Despite the refinery’s impressive capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, making it Africa’s largest, Dangote revealed the journey to completion was filled with uncertainties.
He also shared the difficulties he encountered in financing the project, navigating regulatory hurdles, and securing suppliers.
Dangote emphasized his commitment to providing a model for industrialization across Africa, stating, “We have to build our own nation by ourselves. We have to build our own continent by ourselves, not [rely on]foreign investment.”
He criticized Africa’s reliance on imported finished products, saying his refinery is a crucial step toward enabling the continent to refine its own crude oil, creating wealth and prosperity for its people.
Although he has set up a family office in Dubai and involves his three daughters in various roles within the family business, Dangote remains deeply focused on Nigeria.
He continues to dedicate much of his time to overseeing the refinery’s progress, regularly meeting with engineers and managers. In addition to the refinery, Dangote is working on projects like a subsea pipeline to transport natural gas from the Niger Delta to Lagos and expanding the refinery’s fertilizer plant.
Looking forward, he plans to take the refinery public in the next year or two, saying, “I’ve been fighting battles all my life and I have not lost one yet.”
