President Muhammadu Buhari has said the $2.5 billion Dangote Fertiliser Plant would boost food sufficiency and foreign exchange earnings in the country through exports.
The president, who made the disclosure yesterday while commissioning the complex at the Lekki Free Trade Zone, said the 500-hectare plant with the capacity to produce 3 million metric tons per annum of urea fertilizer, will also reduce the nation’s dependence on imported fertilizers and create employment for Nigerians.
“The nation also stands to gain excessively in earnings of foreign exchange with excess production and export from the plant. I’m informed that you have started exporting to other countries including the United States, India and Brazil,” he said.
Buhari, who commended Dangote Group for creating jobs for millions of Nigerians, noted that it is the second biggest employer of labour after the FG.
President Buhari assured that his government would continue to improve on infrastructure, power and security as well as add relevant laws and regulations that will drive investments in the economy.
“We are partnering with the private sector through a Tax Credit Scheme in the rehabilitation of roads across the country under the Presidential Order No. 7 and we know that good roads contribute to easy movement of goods and services across the nation, thus reducing the cost of doing business and improving productivity,” he said.
While congratulating Alhaji Dangote for the great feat, Buhari said he looked forward to inaugurating the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Plant later in the year.
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu said the project, which is Africa’s largest Granulated Urea Fertiliser complex and the second-largest in the world, would address youth unemployment and boost agriculture in the country.
Sanwo-Olu who thanked the host communities for providing a secured environment for the plant said government at all levels should be concerned about “how to create more Dangotes”.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, said the plant, which is in line with President Buhari’s vision of self-sufficiency in local consumption, will help to solve Nigeria’s perennial problem of importing petrochemical products including fertilizer and reduced FX expenditure on agricultural imports.
He added that the plant is timely when one considers recent developments in the global market, where prices of wheat, fertilizer and crude oil spiked by over 20% following the Russia – Ukraine war.
“In addition to the lessons we learnt from the protectionist actions of countries during the early days of COVID-19, this investment is again a glaring testament to the foresight and tireless efforts of Mr President in encouraging domestic production of items that can be produced in Nigeria, especially agriculture. This would not only help to enable greater productivity of our agricultural sector but would also help in insulating Nigeria farmers from depending on imported fertilizer,” he said.
Commenting on the plant, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, said: “As the largest economy in Africa, Nigeria has a potential to greatly increase its trading volume, production capacity, and generation of foreign investment”.
The President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, while thanking the government for creating an enabling environment, said the plant will make Nigeria self-sufficient in fertilizer production as well as export to African markets and the rest of the world.
He said the product is already being exported to African countries as well as the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico.
He added that the project would drastically reduce the level of unemployment in the country through the generation of direct and indirect employment, noting that agriculture accounts for about 20% of Nigeria’s GDP.
He noted that the plant will work with farmer’s associations, corporate farms, NPK blenders, NGO/development partners and state governments all over Nigeria, as well as governments across Africa and beyond who are looking for a sustainable approach to improve soil and farm yields.
