Nigeria’s Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has begun exporting fuel across Africa after reaching full production, shipping about a dozen cargoes to markets as far as Tanzania.
The shipment of about 456,000 tons of petroleum products represents less than a fifth of the plant’s monthly output. The facility owned by billionaire Aliko Dangote ramped up processing crude to its full nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels a day last month, the company said.
The exports will supply African countries seeking alternatives following disruptions to fuel flows from the Middle East after the start of the Iran war in late February. The plant is the continent’s biggest refinery and in part helps fill a gap following the closure of other processors in the past two decades.
The Dangote Refinery will help “enhance energy security in West, East and Central Africa, reducing logistics and supply chain delays associated with long-distance fuel imports,” Dangote said in a statement.
The shipments were sold for delivery to Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Ghana, Togo and Tanzania, according to the statement.
Chairman and CEO of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has warned that the ongoing Middle East crisis could force Nigeria and other African countries to adopt COVID-era work-from-home restrictions if the conflict does not de-escalate.
Chairman and CEO of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has warned that the ongoing Middle East crisis could force Nigeria and other African countries to adopt COVID-era work-from-home restrictions if the conflict does not de-escalate.
Dangote with President Tinubu
Dangote gave the warning on Monday after meeting with President Bola Tinubu at his Ikoyi residence in Lagos, expressing deep concern about the economic impact of oil price volatility on the continent already burdened by debt.
The industrialist stated, “If this thing doesn’t de-escalate, you know, normally we in Africa, we don’t have any reserves in terms of savings.
“And so, people normally go out and look for money for the next day or for even the same day. Some of them, if they don’t work that day, they won’t eat.”
He cited Indonesia’s response to energy crisis pressures, where authorities asked workers to operate only four days a week and are considering full work-from-home arrangements similar to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In some countries today what they’ve done, they asked everybody to work from home because they cannot afford it.
“I think Indonesians also only go to work four days a week. And they will look at the situation if it doesn’t improve, they will ask everybody not to go to work anymore.
“We will do like that time of COVID, where people will work from home,” Dangote stated.
The billionaire businessman warned that Africa would pay a disproportionate price for a crisis in which the continent has no involvement.
“It’s not only energy. Some people will try and take a chance and say, ‘Ah, this is an opportunity. So, let me make money.’
“So, if this thing doesn’t de-escalate, it is going to keep going up and up and up, and governments cannot really and add to salaries.
“So, people will really, really feel the pinch,” he stated.
Dangote emphasised that the crisis would hit hardest at ordinary Africans operating small businesses, especially barbers, bread sellers, and industries dependent on generators for power.
“People who are barbers, people who make bread, people who have industries, who have to pay for their own generators, you know, I mean, you can see what is happening,” he said.
He called for urgent prayers and international intervention to end the conflict.
“We just need all hands-on deck to pray that this thing comes to an end,” the Dangote Group chairman stated.
Speaking on President Tinubu’s recent state visit to the United Kingdom, Dangote expressed optimism the trip will open doors for Nigerian business and investment.
He highlighted the £746m infrastructure agreement signed during the visit, describing it as significant beyond the monetary value.
“It has not been easy dealing with the British, getting this kind of money out of them. They too, they are struggling on their own. But I think this is to show confidence — it’s not about the money. It’s about the confidence in Nigeria,” Dangote said.
He predicted that the UK agreement would encourage other countries to follow suit.
“The moment that they do that, there will be other countries that will follow suit. Germany will come, others will line up and start coming up,” he stated.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC, Limited has reduced the pump price of petrol at its retail outlets, bringing relief to motorists in Lagos and Abuja.
At NNPC stations in Lagos, including Isheri Oshun Road, Apple Junction, and Ago Palace Way, petrol now sells for N1,130 per litre, down from N1,230.
In the nation’s capital, Abuja, the price has been adjusted to N1,165 per litre at retail outlets in Jabi and Wuse, a drop from the previous N1,260.
The reduction follows a N100 per litre decline in Lagos and a N95 per litre decrease in Abuja, despite some oil marketers yet to reflect the recent price cut by Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Dangote had earlier reduced its gantry price to N1,075 per litre following a fall in global crude oil prices, which dropped to around $88 per barrel from $110 per barrel.
Analysts linked the earlier surge in crude prices to tensions in the Middle East involving the United States, Iran, and Israel, which raised concerns over oil supply and a possible blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The decline in prices came after statements from the US suggesting the conflict could ease, as well as European ministerial meetings on releasing oil reserves to stabilise global markets.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, also fell by about 8.45 per cent to roughly $92 per barrel from $110, contributing to the downward adjustment in domestic pump prices.
Wike Says Paying Salary Arrears Could Exhaust FCT Funds
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said that paying outstanding salaries and arrears owed to FCT workers could significantly deplete available funds, affecting the government’s ability to execute capital projects.
Wike made the statement while responding to concerns over unpaid salaries and arrears owed to workers under the FCT Administration (FCTA).
“If we bring out the whole money to pay salaries and outstanding arrears, the whole money will finish. How would we buy vehicles and construct roads?” the minister was quoted as saying.
The comment comes amid ongoing tensions between the FCTA and labour unions over delayed payments, which have led to industrial actions affecting public services across the territory.
Several government-owned primary and secondary schools in the FCT have been shut down as a result of the dispute, while other essential services have reportedly been disrupted.
Labour unions have maintained that the payment of salaries and outstanding entitlements is a statutory obligation and should not be treated as discretionary spending. They have called on the FCT Administration to urgently clear all arrears to prevent further disruption.
The FCTA, however, has argued that it faces financial constraints and must balance recurrent expenditure with capital development projects, including road construction and procurement of operational vehicles.
Efforts to reach labour leaders for additional comments were ongoing at the time of filing this report.
France international and PSG winger, Ousmane Dembele has been crowned the winner of the 2025 Ballon d’Or, football’s most prestigious individual award.
The announcement was made on Monday night at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, where the world’s biggest stars gathered to celebrate the best players of the past year.
Dembele, 28, pipped Barcelona and Spain teenage sensation Lamine Yamal to the prize and succeeds Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri, who won the trophy in 2024.
President Bola Tinubu has directed the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-ette Ibas rtd., to prepare a comprehensive handover note of his six-month emergency rule before his ten-day vacation ends.
According to Vanguard, this directive is in preparation for the return of suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Prof. Ngozi Odu, and the 32-member House of Assembly on September 18, 2025.
The instruction followed a closed-door meeting at the Presidential Villa last Wednesday focusing on the transition back to elected officials.
The handover note is expected to cover all funds inherited from Fubara, revenues collected during the emergency period, expenditures, and projects carried out under Ibas’s administration.
Submission of this report will guide the lifting of emergency rule and the restoration of democratic governance in the state.
HIPNOTIK NEWS reports that there were efforts by some National Assembly members to extend Ibas’s tenure by three months.
This is to allow completion of ongoing projects such as the reconstruction of the House of Assembly complex, worker verification exercises, and installation of government equipment.
But these efforts have been blocked.
Had the extension succeeded, Fubara and other officials would have returned in January 2026.
Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike opposed the extension, insisting that the emergency rule must end on September 18.
Rivers APC Chairman Chief Tony Okocha also confirmed that the date is final.
Fubara, currently in London with his family, is expected to return soon and receive a list of political appointees, including commissioners, to work with.
