The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has disclosed that the Dangote Group has repaid 70% of the loans it obtained from the apex bank to build its oil refinery. Emefiele made this known on Monday during the commissioning of the refinery. He revealed that domestic banks financed the commercial loan component of the project while the foreign banks provided the rest.
The CBN Governor stated that the bank provided about N125 billion to cover domestic currency requirements and also ensured the availability of foreign exchange to pay for imported equipment. “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.
Emefiele further revealed that the total loans outstanding have dropped to N2.7 billion from over $9 billion when the project started, indicating the creditworthiness and commercial capability of the group and its chairman, Alhaji Dangote. He also appreciated the participating local Nigerian banks, who supported the project through effective financing, describing their support as exceptional.
It is expected that the refinery, with a production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, will substantially reduce the country’s reliance on imported petroleum products when fully operational.
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