President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has raised concerns over the impact of a floating offshore oil market in Lome, Togo, warning that its operations could stifle refinery investments across Africa.
Dangote, whose $20 billion Lagos-based refinery recently began operations, said international traders operating from floating storage tanks offshore Lome—holding up to two million tonnes of petroleum products—had previously sold fuel at inflated prices due to Africa’s lack of local refining capacity.
However, following the entry of the Dangote Refinery into the market, he revealed that the same traders dramatically slashed prices in a bid to undermine local production.
“This market is a uniquely African phenomenon. International traders maintain floating storage just offshore and were taking advantage of the refining gap. The moment our refinery started producing, they crashed prices to frustrate our operations,” Dangote said.
He warned that the aggressive pricing tactic by offshore traders could discourage future investments in domestic refineries, thereby deepening the continent’s dependence on foreign fuel sources.
The Dangote Refinery, touted as the largest in Africa, aims to meet Nigeria’s fuel demand and export to neighboring countries. However, the billionaire industrialist said predatory pricing by offshore traders could threaten the long-term viability of such bold ventures.
