By Adewale Sanyaolu with agency reports
In what could be described as an audacious investment decision, the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has applied for approval to commence construction of a seaport to support the rapid growth of his conglomerate.
The latest investment decision by the billionaire businessman to build a seaport near his fertilizer and oil refinery plants is to make it easier to export goods, including liquefied natural gas.
The proposed Atlantic seaport in Olokola, Ogun state, will link the conglomerate’s logistics and export operations and rival facilities in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.
According to Devakumar Edwin, Executive Vice President of the Dangote Group, Dangote also plans to export liquefied gas from Lagos, a project that will involve constructing pipelines from Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta
Aliko Dangote’s plan “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.
The proposed Atlantic seaport in Olokola, Ogun state, lies about 100 kilometers (62 miles) by road from the billionaire’s fertilizer plant and petrochemicals refinery in Lagos. Dangote currently exports urea and fertilizer through an on-site jetty he built, that also receives heavy equipment for the refinery.
Once completed, the port will 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.
“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 marks the billionaire’s return to the same site where he had previously abandoned plans to build his giant refinery and fertilizer complex after wrangling with local authorities. The tensions have since been mended under a new administration.
