Emefiele: Dangote refinery projected to create 135,000 jobs

The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, said the Dangote Oil Refinery is expected to generate 12,000 megawatts of electricity and over 135,000 permanent jobs.

Emefiele made the remarks on Monday during President Muhammadu Buhari’s ceremonial inauguration of the Dangote Oil Refinery in Lagos State.

“Then, we insisted that under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, the ongoing projects and efforts will be actively implemented to diversify the economy and make the country globally competitive but people still doubted us,” he said.

“Aside from enumerating our strategic efforts in agriculture and other critical sectors is selling projects that we highlighted to our foreign investor community was this project, the refinery. Your Excellency, they doubted us.

“They doubted our willpower to succeed with this project. In hindsight, Your Excellency, I would appreciate their skepticism because they do not understand how a single individual, a man like Dangote could build a refinery capable of serving an entire nation and continent.

“I’m glad to say that this project comes with numerous economic benefits to Nigerians as in the first instance, it will generate 1000s of direct jobs of over 135,000 permanent jobs.

“I am also proud to say that electricity of about 12,000 megawatts of electricity would be generated.”

Emefiele also claims that the project will save a lot of money on foreign exchange and will make it easier for the federal government’s fiscal agency to access data.

He said that it will also give Nigeria an annual influx of $10 billion and a savings of $25 to $30 billion in foreign exchange.

Dangote arrived in Lagos 45 years ago with little, but according to Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, he has since built the largest empire in the world for Africa.

“Dangote came to Lagos with nothing about 45 years ago, but he is now Africa’s richest man,” Sanwo-Olu jocularly said in his speech.

He said that Dangote is a detribalized man who recognized the wealth of the state and that he is a Lagosian who has invested in the development of both Lagos and Nigeria.

Alhaji Aliko Dangote, chairman and CEO of the Dangote Group, stated that his company’s first objective is to ramp up production of all of its products so that it can fully meet the nation’s demand for high-quality goods by the end of this year.

“There will be constant availability of high-quality fuels for our transportation sector, the refinery will also make available to our industries vital raw materials for wide range of manufacturing,” he said.

“Our Group’s corporate vision is driven by our mission to produce what we consume and to promote self-sufficiency in the basic needs of our people.

“We decided on a plant designed with state-of-the-art technology and a scale in a capacity that will be a game-changer in Africa and the global market.”