The economics of the newly inaugurated Dangote Refinery is unfolding so sweetly that the wealth of its founder, Aliko Dangote, may just be beginning to expand.
The reason is that although it has yet to start production, it has paid 70 per cent of the loan it took for the project.
This is according to the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who said on Monday that the company had paid back about 70 per cent of the loans it took to construct its mega 650,000 barrels per day refinery in Lagos.
The CBN boss said the refinery was initially estimated to cost just about $9bn but the project cost escalated and was eventually completed with a total of $18.5bn.
Emefiele said the commercial loan component of the project was financed majorly by domestic banks while the rest was provided by foreign banks.
“We have it on good authority that the Dangote Group has paid off some portion of these commercial loans even before this commissioning today,” Emefiele said.
He noted that the debt for the refinery has decreased from $9bn to $2.7bn, which is a 70 per cent decrease.
