President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has declared that Nigeria is on track to become a global powerhouse in fertiliser and petrochemicals, with his company aiming to become the world’s largest exporter of urea fertiliser by 2026.
Dangote made the disclosure on Monday at the Dangote Refinery complex in Lagos during an event marking the one-year anniversary of the refinery’s gasoline rollout.
Speaking with optimism, the billionaire industrialist said the group was scaling up operations to position Nigeria at the centre of the global urea market.
“We’re actually targeting to be the largest exporter of urea fertiliser in the world. And that’s a big celebration for Nigeria,” Dangote said.
He explained that fertiliser exports would not only boost Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings but also enhance food security across Africa, where demand for fertiliser continues to outstrip supply.
Beyond fertiliser, Dangote highlighted the group’s advances in petrochemicals, particularly polypropylene a key raw material for packaging, textiles, and automotive components.
“Nigeria will be the largest exporter of polypropylene in Africa. It will be the largest supplier of polypropylene. And we are not deterred by all this noise coming through,” he declared.
Industry experts say the move could reposition Nigeria as a hub for petrochemical exports, reducing the continent’s dependence on imports from Asia and Europe.
The anniversary event also featured the rollout of 1,000 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) trucks to transport petroleum products nationwide. Dangote said the fleet was part of a plan to deploy 4,000 CNG trucks by year-end, aimed at easing logistics bottlenecks, reducing transport costs, and expanding fuel access across the country.
He disclosed that the project cost more than N2tn, with each truck priced between N170m and N190m.
Dangote stressed that the initiative was designed not only to improve fuel distribution but also to create jobs.
“We are saying that there will be lots of jobs. Are our own trucks to be driven by robots? They are not robotic trucks. By the time you involve a workshop manager, mechanical, electric truck, people who look after cars, people who look at the logistic movement of the truck, dispatch every truck will have about six people,” he explained.According to him, the planned 4,000 trucks will directly and indirectly create at least 24,000 jobs. He added that drivers’ salaries under the scheme would be three to four times higher than the national minimum wage, reflecting the company’s commitment to improving living standards.
Looking ahead, Dangote announced that the group would begin deploying electric vehicles (EVs) for product transportation from January 2026.
“Our next phase is that, from February next year, we are looking at doing electric vehicles,” he said, underscoring the group’s commitment to sustainability and the global energy transition
