Aliko Dangote, Africa’s wealthiest individual, has boldly stated that the mafias operating within Nigeria’s oil sector possess more power than drug cartels.
“I never knew that the mafias in the oil industry are stronger than drug cartels. It’s a big cartel. I will keep saying anywhere,” Mr. Dangote told PulseNets during an interview published by Bloomberg on Tuesday.
When questioned about the possibility of wealthier competitors deliberately undercutting prices to undermine his newly established refinery, the african richest man confirmed the potential threat. “You are right. They can say they will keep selling at a cheaper rate for this refinery not to work,” he said. However, he reassured that this tactic would fail, stating, “But they cannot because they will not be able to take local currency. We will take local currency. We have refining capacity that is almost twice the consumption of Nigeria.”
PulseNets learnt that Mr. Dangote’s refinery commenced operations in September. Prior to this, Mr. Dangote spoke to PulseNets about the efforts by powerful entities within the oil sector to sabotage his project.
Mr. Dangote emphasized, “Well, we have a choice of when we produce, we export or we sell locally. But we are a private company. Yes, it is true, we have to make profit. We built something worth $20 billion. So definitely, we will have to make money.”
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He further clarified the issue of subsidy removal, pointing out that this decision lies solely with the government. “The removal of subsidy is totally dependent on the government, not on us. We cannot change the price. But I think the government will have to give up something for something. So at the end of the day, the subsidy will have to go,” Mr. Dangote reported to PulseNets.
