The Chairman of the National Petroleum Authority, Ghana, Mr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, says that Ghana will buy petroleum products from Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery once the plant starts operating at full capacity.
Speaking at the OTL Africa Downstream oil conference in Lagos on Moday, Mr. Hamid said that the deal would reduce the cost of importing products from Europe, which he said was $400 million.
“Ghana will start importing fuel from Dangote Refinery when the refinery reaches 650,000 barrels per day capacity, since all that volume cannot be consumed by Nigeria alone, so instead of us importing as we do right now from Rotterdam, it will be much easier for us to import from Nigeria and I believe that will bring down our prices,” he said.
Hamid explained that importing products from Nigeria rather than Europe would bring down the prices of other goods and services by removing freight costs. Eventually, he said that African countries would agree on a common currency that should dampen the demand for dollars.
According to local media reports, the Dangote Refinery is expected to operate at near full capacity at the end of the year and that analysts believe it could be fully operational in the first quarter of 2025.
GIK/APA