Power safety: Nigeria, Angola to guide Africa’s drive as refining capability set to hit 90% – AFC
Nigeria and Angola are rising as key gamers in Africa’s vitality transformation, poised to guide the continent’s push for vitality safety as refining capability is projected to rise considerably, reaching as much as 90%.
This projection was made within the Africa Finance Company’s (AFC) newly-released report “State of Africa’s Infrastructure Report 2025”.
The AFC said, “If totally utilized, refining capability may meet as much as 90% of the continent’s gasoline demand—in comparison with simply 45% final 12 months.”
The company famous additional that, to unlock this potential, two complementary funding tracks can be required.
“First, brownfield upgrades: over $16 billion is required to modernize current refineries, meet clear gasoline requirements, and scale back reliance on imports. Second, greenfield funding is essential to assembly future demand, with Nigeria and Angola rising as new continental hubs.”
Dangote Refinery essential in main the cost
Based on the report, the important thing to attaining vitality safety is the state-of-the-art Dangote Refinery facility, which has a processing capability of 650,000 barrels per day.
The state of the continent’s refining business has left it closely depending on imports of petroleum merchandise, that are nonetheless backed in a number of nations.
Based on the report, “In 2023, 55% of Africa’s demand for petroleum merchandise was met by imports. Nevertheless, if refining capability have been totally utilized, this quantity may drop to solely 10%. In that regard, the commissioning of the Dangote Refinery, together with the gradual re-opening of the Port Harcourt and Warri Refineries in Nigeria (2024-2026) may considerably rework the continent’s gasoline safety panorama within the quick time period.”
The AFC famous additional, stating “the sector’s progress is intently tied to the modernization of current refineries in West and Central Africa, overcoming feedstock and financing challenges for brand spanking new initiatives, and addressing important infrastructure bottlenecks in transportation and distribution networks.
“To attain gasoline safety and meet the continent’s rising demand, Africa should prioritize funding in refinery upgrades, develop environment friendly distribution techniques—together with pipelines, railways, and diversified port infrastructure. As new vitality infrastructure is constructed, it should even be resilient and able to supporting future vitality transitions. The profitable integration of those parts can be essential for attaining long-term gasoline safety and vitality independence throughout the continent,” AFC said.
What you need to know
In Could 2023, Africa’s largest oil refinery, the Dangote Refinery, was commissioned in Nigeria, with hopes that it might assist alleviate the nation’s persistent gasoline shortages.
On Thursday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu lauded the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, describing it as a “nice level of reference, an incredible phenomenon of our time, and an enormous funding” that showcases Nigeria’s capability for industrial greatness and {economic} transformation.
The President thanked the proprietor, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, for his curiosity in creating the nation by means of steady investments.
