Abuja, Nigeria – July 23, 2025
President Bola Tinubu met with billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote on Tuesday evening at the State House in Abuja, signaling a renewed commitment to addressing Nigeria’s persistent energy sector challenges. The brief but significant meeting, held just weeks after Tinubu’s June visit to the Dangote Refinery in Lagos, underscores the federal government’s determination to bolster private-sector-led growth in the oil and gas industry.
The Dangote Refinery, currently expanding its capacity from 650,000 to 700,000 barrels per day, is poised to become the world’s sixth-largest refinery. This development is seen as a critical step toward reducing Africa’s dependence on imported refined products, a goal championed by both Tinubu and Dangote. The refinery’s progress comes at a time when Nigeria faces systemic issues in its energy sector, including infrastructure deficits and entrenched corruption, which Dangote addressed earlier this week at the West African Refined Fuel Conference.
In a keynote presentation titled “Building an African Refinery Hub: Prospects and Challenges,” Dangote highlighted the pervasive problem of rent-seeking across Africa’s petroleum value chain. “Besides poor infrastructure, our biggest problem lies in rent-seeking throughout the petroleum value chain across Africa,” he stated. He further noted that new refineries like his own disrupt a status quo maintained by powerful vested interests, a sentiment echoed by a 2023 World Bank report estimating Nigeria’s annual losses from oil theft and mismanagement at $4–8 billion.
President Tinubu, who welcomed delegates to the conference via a post on his official X handle, emphasized Africa’s urgent need to assert greater control over global energy markets. “Africa can no longer be a price taker. We must set transparent benchmarks that reflect our true value and protect our economies,” he declared. The president also revealed ongoing collaborations with regional partners to establish a unified African energy market, a move that aligns with the African Development Bank’s 2022 call for increased private-sector investment in the continent’s energy sector.
Nigeria’s energy landscape is evolving, with recent Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) data indicating a rise in gas production to 7.58 billion standard cubic feet per day in June 2025. This suggests a strategic dual focus on traditional oil and gas resources alongside potential renewable energy initiatives, offering hope for a more self-sufficient energy future.
The meeting between Tinubu and Dangote, though undisclosed in detail, reflects a shared vision to transform Nigeria’s energy sector. As the Dangote Refinery nears full operational capacity, its success could set a precedent for private-sector-driven economic transformation across the continent, challenging the status quo and paving the way for a more resilient African energy market.
