A really big risk in his life, according to Dangote, is the completion of the Dangote Refinery project worth $23 billion due to the challenges faced in bringing it about.
He states that on an exclusive interview with Forbes last Monday, February 17, A challenge quite necessarily comes into play considering the size of the undertaking.
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“It was the biggest risk of my life. If this didn’t work, I was dead,” he said.
The renovation had mainly been at the whim of uncertainties of completion, Dangote said, and the halfway-down refinery is rated at a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, dangling as the largest in Africa.
Financing the project, regulatory issues, and getting suppliers were some of the other challenges that Dangote spoke about.
According to Dangote, he hopes to set a template for industrialization across Africa.
“We have to build our own nation by ourselves. We have to build our own continent by ourselves, not [rely on] foreign investment.”
He added that Africa has been “a mere dumping ground for finished products,” and his refinery represents “a pivotal step in ensuring that Africa has the capacity to refine its own crude oil, thereby creating wealth and prosperity for its vast population,” he said.
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He also plans to lecture the refinery public within a year or two.
“I’ve been fighting battles all my life and I have not lost one yet,” he said
