Mini-Refineries Race Billionaire to Fix Nigerian Fuel Crisis

  • 40 modular facilities could together surpass Dangote’s plant
  • Africa’s largest economy relies on fuel imports to meet demand
Photographer: Paya Godwin/Nigeria oil ministry
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In the race to solve a fuel-import crisis in Nigeria, Africa’s richest person faces competition from a swarm of tiny challengers.

Billionaire Aliko Dangote is building a 650,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Nigeria that will help cut the nation’s $7 billion annual fuel-import bill. Such is the pressure on its finances that the government is pursuing another option: giving licenses to mini refineries, some of which have capacity of as little as 1,000 barrels a day.