The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, on Monday, revealed that the cost for the construction of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery was around $18.5 billion.
This amount is significantly higher than the $9 billion Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, mentioned when he set out to build the refinery in 2013.
Emefiele, who spoke at the commissioning of the 650,000 barrels per day refinery in Lagos, however, said the total outstanding debt had dropped from $9 billion to $2.7 billion after Dangote Group paid part of the loans before the refinery was commissioned.
He said: “The commercial loan component of the project was financed by domestic banks with the balance from foreign banks.
“I am delighted to announce that the Dangote Group paid down some portion of commercial loans before the refinery’s commissioning. As of today, total loans outstanding have dropped from over $9 billion to $2.7 billion.”
The CBN chief, who praised Dangote Group for its creditworthiness, thanked the local banks for supporting the construction of the Dangote Refinery.
“This reflects the astute creditworthiness and commercial capability of the Dangote Group. Please permit me to appreciate all the participating local banks that provided immense support to the refinery project because they were aware of the importance of the project.
“Even when interests and principal payments were almost overdue, they were patient,” Emefiele stated.
