Africa’s richest man and President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has advised Nigeria’s federal government to introduce a single-digit tax regime to encourage investments in the downstream and midstream sectors of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
The promoter of the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Plant, also emphasised the need for the government to invest more on quality infrastructure to reduce importation of refinery equipment that would ordinarily be sourced in Nigeria.
Dangote made the call in Lagos while speaking at the just-ended Nigerian Content Midstream and Downstream Summit organiser by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), with the theme: “Maximising Potentials in the Midstream and Downstream Oil and Gas Sector – A Local Content Perspective.”
The Director, Corporate Communications, Dangote Group, Mr. Tony Chiejina, in a statement stated that the President of Dangote Group was represented at the event by the Technical Consultant, Dangote Industries Limited, Mr. Babajide Soyode.
Dangote noted that the development of specific, sustainable equipment manufacturing and services should be the focus of the NCDMB and the federal government.
“Funding of a project should be to ensure that substantial part of the product plant must be of Nigerian origin; the same applies to goods and services.
“Government should ensure a single digit tax regime to encourage investment in the downstream sector,” Dangote said.
He, however, stated that the coming on stream of his refinery would expose Nigeria’s midstream and downstream sectors to the international markets.
He maintained that the refinery currently under constructed in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, would guarantee availability of high quality environmentally compliant products in Nigeria, regional markets in West Africa, Southern Africa and inter-continental markets.
Dangote said the refinery would promote competition of local refining in Africa by encouraging existing large refineries to upscale, which would result in surplus products for exports.
“Dangote Petroleum Refinery will guarantee adequate fuels production for domestic consumption and availability of excess products for export which will help to stabilise our domestic currency.
“It will lead to upgrading and expansion of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s refineries and promotion of prospects of Nigeria’s transformation to a regional refining hub,” Dangote stated.
