Billionaire business man, Aliko Dangote has submitted plans to build Nigeria’s largest and deepest seaport in Olokola, Ogun State, approximately 100 kilometers from Lagos.
The proposed Atlantic seaport aimed to bolster exports, particularly for his fertilizer and oil refinery plants, and potentially rival existing facilities like the Chinese-funded Lekki Deep Sea Port.
A Bloomberg News report on Monday said that the proposed Atlantic would link its logistics and export operations and rival facilities in Lagos, to make it easier to export goods, including liquefied natural gas.
Dangote planned to export liquefied gas from Lagos, a project that would involve constructing pipelines from Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta, the report quoted the Vice President of the group, Devakumar Edwin.
The report said the project, when completed, would support the rapid growth of his industrial empire.
Dangote’s plans “to build the biggest, deepest port in Nigeria” took wings after he sent in the paperwork for permission in late June, he said in an interview in Lagos, quoted by Bloomberg.
Once completed, the port would link the conglomerate’s logistics and export operations and rival facilities in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, including the Chinese-funded Lekki Deep Sea Port opened in 2023.
Dangote, valued at $27.8 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, also owns cement manufacturing and sugar plants in Africa.
“It’s not that we want to do everything by ourselves, but I think doing this will encourage other entrepreneurs to come into it,” he said.
The port marked the billionaire’s return to the same site where he had previously abandoned plans to build his giant refinery and fertiliser complex after wrangling with local authorities.
The tensions have since been mended under a new administration.
Dangote also planned to export liquefied gas from Lagos, a project that would involve constructing pipelines from Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta, Edwin said in another interview.
“We want to do a major project to bring more gas than what NLNG is doing today,” he said, referring to Nigeria LNG Ltd., a joint venture between the government, Shell Plc, Eni SpA and TotalEnergies SE, which is currently the continent’s largest exporter of LNG.
“We know where there is a lot of gas, so run a pipeline all through and then bring it to the shore,” he added.
Dangote already sourced natural gas from the Niger Delta to supply his fertiliser plant, where it is used as feedstock to produce hydrogen for ammonia, a key component in the production of the crop nutrient.
The billionaire also planned to start distributing fuel to retailers in Nigeria from August, using a fleet of 4,000 gas-powered trucks, a move that has drawn criticism from some groups accusing him of attempting to monopolise the oil sector, which he has denied
