Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote has filed paperwork to begin construction of a Deep seaport near his fertilizer and oil refinery plants to make it easier to export goods — including liquefied natural gas — and support the rapid growth of his industrial empire, Bloomberg reported.
Dangote plans “to build the biggest, deepest port in Nigeria,” took wings after he sent in the paperwork for permission in late June, he said in an interview.
The proposed Atlantic seaport in Olokola, Ogun state, lies about 100 kilometers (62 miles) by road from the billionaire’s fertilizer plant and petrochemicals refinery in Lagos. Dangote currently exports urea and fertilizer through an on-site jetty he built, that also receives heavy equipment for the refinery.
Once completed, the port will link the conglomerate’s logistics and export operations and rival facilities in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, including the Chinese-funded Lekki Deep Sea Port opened in 2023.
Lekki Deep Seaport currently has a capacity of 1.2 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) per year, which is planned to be expanded to handle 2.7 million TEUs annually.
It can accommodate vessels with a capacity of up to 18,000 TEUs, including container ships, bulk carriers, and oil tankers.
“It’s not that we want to do everything by ourselves, but I think doing this will encourage other entrepreneurs to come into it,” he said.
Dangote also plans to export liquefied gas from Lagos, a project that will involve constructing pipelines from Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta., vice-president of the group Devakumar Edwin said in another interview.
“We want to do a major project to bring more gas than what NLNG is doing today,” he said, referring to Nigeria LNG Ltd., a joint-venture between the government, Shell Plc, Eni and TotalEnergies SA, which is currently the continent’s largest exporter of LNG.
“We know where there is a lot of gas, so run a pipeline all through and then bring it to the shore.”
Dangote already sources natural gas from the Niger Delta to supply his fertilizer plant, where it’s used as feedstock to produce hydrogen for ammonia — a key component in the production of the crop nutrient
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