Business tycoon, Aliko Dangote has finalized plans to seek over N300 Billion ($750 million) through bonds to complete his refinery project in Lagos State.
Investors King gathered that the refinery project was supposed to be finished in 2019, but funding issues and the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in the works, forcing the deadline to be moved back to 2023.
Dangote sought to raise $750 million from the Nigerian bond market with Dangote Oil Refining Company Limited and Dangote Fertiliser Limited, both Dangote Industries Limited companies, serving as co-obligors under the proposed programme, according to Fitch Ratings.
In order to prevent another extension and complete the refinery project next year, a portion of the funds will be used to cover the $1.1 billion needed to complete the refinery project while the remainder will come from either a Dangote Cement asset sale or the refinery project itself, equity sales.
“If the transaction is not successful, or should completion costs overrun or market conditions in the cement or urea sector deteriorate materially, we do not believe that DIL’s existing creditors would have further lending capacity.
“We believe that further asset sales, either in cement, or stakes in the projects, would be the more likely options to address funding of the refinery,” Fitch’s report reads.
About nine months ago, recall that Dangote opted to increase the workforce of his refinery by 17,000. Investors King reported that “the project currently employs 29,000 Nigerians and 11,000 foreigners at the 650,000 barrels-per-day world’s largest single refinery project located in the Ibeju Lekki area of Lagos. This is a ratio of around three Nigerians to one expatriate presently, which will increase local talent with the new additions.”
Speaking in a broadcast, Investors King quoted Dangote saying “When we started the project, we were supposed to bring a lot of foreign workers, but as we speak today, we have less than 11,000 expatriates. We have almost about 29,000 Nigerian workers that are getting massive training. We are also creating a lot of capacity in the country, which will be of great help for future oil projects in Nigeria, most especially with the opening up of the oil industry through the new Petroleum Industry Act….”
As a matter of fact, the idea of a successful Dangote Refinery project has been the expectation of both citizens of Nigeria and the Government, because, it will help bring a stop to the importation of crude oil.