African governments have failed to build a single oil refinery in 35 years, and it is not merely a matter of money or political will; it is because powerful interests profiting from fuel imports actively discourage the continent’s industrialisation, according to Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man and President of the Dangote Group.
“We Africans Are the Only People That Can Develop Africa”
Speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum UNGA Special Edition in New York, Dangote warned that foreign aid and investment will never build Africa, insisting that self-reliance is the only path to economic sovereignty. Dangote was speaking at a session that AkweyaTV monitored on Bloomberg.
“There has not been a refinery in the last 35 years,” Dangote said, describing the systemic obstacles he faced when building his $19 billion, 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Lagos.
“There are so many issues. I can’t count them, but there are so many. It’s not only money, political will, and also people who are benefiting from this whole stuff of importing petroleum products into Africa are actually discouraging those governments from building a refinery”.
He added that international banks would not support such industrial projects either. “And they won’t get the loans anyway, because they don’t have very strong banks. The international banks will not support anything like this. We’re talking about industrialising the continent, creating a more connected Africa”.
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“But we have to make sure we focus and say, look, we are the only ones that can deliver,” Dangote declared. “We Africans are the only people that can develop Africa. If we’re waiting for foreigners or foreign investors to come and develop Africa, it will never happen”.
“We Really Don’t Need Aid Anymore in Africa, What We Need Is Trade”
Dangote has consistently argued that the continent’s reliance on aid is a fundamental barrier to its development. “Foreign aids and investments will not build Africa, as Africans will have to develop the continent on their own,” he said, emphasising that only Africans can deliver the continent’s industrial future.
He has made the same point for over a decade: “We really don’t need aid anymore in Africa, what we need is trade”. Describing Africa as “a blessed continent with numerous natural resources,” Dangote said the growth rate would hit seven per cent once infrastructure challenges, especially power, were addressed. “The future is bright because we have what it takes to really get to the next level,” he said.
Industrialisation as the Path to Sovereignty
Beyond the refinery, Dangote outlined an ambitious programme spanning infrastructure, ports, power, and critical minerals processing across Africa.
“We are looking at areas where we have a lack of investment in Africa, like infrastructure,” he said, revealing plans to build Africa’s largest port with an 80-metre draft and to expand the refinery to 1.4 million barrels per day, making it the largest in the world.
Speaking at a Capital Markets and Institutional Investors Roundtable in Botswana, Dangote delivered a pointed challenge to African nations and businesses: “Africa can no longer wait for foreigners to build its industrial base. African entrepreneurs must lead, even though the financial and structural hurdles are significant. We’ve made too many bets waiting for outsiders to grow the continent. That’s not going to happen. Some of us have to step up and lead this effort. We must industrialise Africa. We can’t keep exporting raw materials and importing finished goods”.
He was equally direct about the consequences of that export model: “When you export raw materials, you are exporting jobs”. And on the skewed global economic order: “They do what’s right for them but stop us from doing what’s right for us. That has to change”.
“Confidence Follows Capital”
At the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, as global development aid collapsed by 23 per cent, Dangote argued that perception, not fundamentals, is Africa’s real investment problem. He urged African investors to take the lead in investing on the continent, stating that “confidence follows capital”.
His own company avoids project financing entirely, preferring to rely on its balance sheet. “We never want to depend on banks or project finance. We use our own balance sheet,” Dangote explained.
Reflecting on the refinery’s completion, Dangote expressed both pride and candour. “Actually, yes. If I’m going to do it now, I will do it better because I’ve learned from experience. But if I knew what I was going to go through, I wouldn’t have tried,” he admitted. Still, he added: “I feel very proud as an African doing this. Nobody ever expected us to pull this through. A lot of people had given up. But we’ve been able to deliver”.
Looking ahead, Dangote was unequivocal: “The sky is the limit”.
