…to supply all major markets in sub-Saharan Africa
Olusola Bello
Dangote Group will begin to earn foreign exchange on its investment on fertilizer by the end of June or early July as it has concluded plans to begin the export of its first shipment of fertilizer from its fertilizer plant at the Lekki Free Zone in Lagos, to the US and Brazil.
This step may ease pressure on the central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in respect of availability of foreign exchange.
Initial shipment from one of the world’s biggest fertilizer plant, which has the capacity to produce 3 million tonnes of urea and ammonia per year, is expected to start in late June or early July.
Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Group, said this while speaking at a virtual economic forum hosted in Qatar on Tuesday, June 22, 2021, according to Reuters.
Aliko Dangote said that the new fertilizer plant will export its first shipment in late June or early July, to Louisiana, while the majority of exports from the plant are expected to go to Brazil, adding that it will also be able to supply all the major markets in sub-Saharan Africa.
He said, “Apart from meeting the domestic demand, we are going to be able to earn quite a lot of money exporting the goods to the South American countries.”
A lot of Nigerians believe that the fertilizer plant will help solve the problem of low crop yield in the country, which is partly due to insufficient access to fertilizer.
Devakumar Edwin, Group Executive Director (Strategy, Capital Projects & Portfolio Development) of Dangote Industries Limited had recently said that the $2.5 billion fertilizer plant, which recently commenced operations can produce enough for local demand as it looks towards exports. He said that the plant currently delivers 120 trucks locally.
According to the World Bank, Nigeria consumed around 20 kg of fertiliser per hectare of arable land in 2018, compared with 73 kg in South Africa and 393 kg in China.
The Central Bank of Nigeria had banned the allocation of its foreign exchange for fertiliser imports as part of controls aimed at boosting local production.
