Billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has expressed strong optimism that the naira could appreciate to trade below 1000 to the dollar before the end of the year, pointing to the growing impact of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery on Nigeria’s economy.
Otedola shared his views on his X platform while congratulating the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, on the refinery’s achievement of reaching its full production capacity of 650000 barrels per day. He described the milestone as a transformative moment not only for Nigeria but for the African continent as a whole.
According to Otedola, the refinery now has the capacity to supply up to 75 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit daily. This development, he noted, significantly changes Nigeria’s energy landscape after decades of heavy dependence on imported fuel.
With domestic refining now fully operational, Otedola believes pressure on the foreign exchange market will ease considerably. For years, Nigeria has spent billions of dollars importing refined petroleum products, placing strain on the country’s foreign reserves and weakening the naira. The shift to local production is expected to reduce the demand for foreign currency used in fuel imports.
Otedola stated that with these structural changes taking root, the naira could strengthen meaningfully in the coming months. He expressed confidence that trading below 1000 to one dollar before year end is increasingly within reach.
In addition to the current milestone, Otedola revealed that Dangote has commenced a 12 billion dollar expansion project aimed at increasing refining capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day. The expansion will also include production of 2.4 million tonnes of polypropylene and 400000 metric tonnes of Linear Alkyl Benzene for detergent manufacturing.
He described the achievement as historic and a major boost for Nigeria’s economic growth, congratulating Dangote on what he called a landmark accomplishment.
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