Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Industries Limited, has revealed that the company is on track to export nearly 16,000 tonnes of fertiliser daily within the next two years, generating an estimated $7 million in daily revenue for the Federal Government. He made this disclosure during a courtesy visit to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) headquarters in Marina, Lagos, on Monday. Dangote noted that the upcoming fertiliser exports would make his company a key source of foreign exchange earnings for Nigeria. “In the next two years, we will be exporting about 16,000 tonnes of fertiliser. When you talk about 16,000 tonnes of fertiliser, it’s about $6.5m to $7m revenue that will be coming into the country daily. With our export programme, our company will be the major supplier of foreign exchange earnings in Nigeria,” Dangote said.
Dangote also stated that coal exports would commence in the coming weeks. He added that the refinery operations would export no less than 25 million tonnes of various products annually, along with 600,000 to 700,000 metric tonnes of polypropylene.
“Our export portfolio will be extensive,” he affirmed.
Emphasising the importance of strategic collaboration, Dangote expressed the company's readiness to work with the NPA to develop Nigeria’s Marine and Blue Economy sector, aiming to boost the country's export capacity. He highlighted the long-standing relationship between Dangote Industries and the NPA, describing it as essential for industry growth.
“I think this kind of interaction is very important for the growth of the industry. We discussed quite a lot of issues. We also discussed issues of how to deepen the Marine and Blue Economy sector. And we have agreed to work together for the benefit of Nigeria,” he stated.
He noted that the scale of operations at the Lekki site alone involves nearly 240 crude ships annually, each carrying one million barrels, plus over 600 product-carrying ships and eight fertiliser cargo ships.
“And then we will have products which now will amount to over 600 ships in a year. Then we also have our fertiliser operation, which will be loading almost eight ships. This is an operation that has never, ever been seen in the country,” he said.
He also stressed the importance of the NPA’s support for the company’s operations, noting that without the necessary services, their business would struggle. He called on the Federal Government to equip the NPA with more tools and resources, including tug boats, to meet growing demands.
“The NPA will need a lot of support from the Federal Government because they won’t be able to do these things with their own physical hands; they need equipment, and they need more tug boats. We will also be putting in a few words in the necessary quarters to make sure that NPA gets all the necessary assistance from the Federal Government,” he said.
In the area of export, Dangote said, “We will soon be massively expanding our export operations. We are already exporting cement out of Nigeria. We have a whole factory of six million tons for cement export. So the operations of Nigerian ports will double in the next one or two years.”
NPA Managing Director Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho said Dangote’s visit was in appreciation of the Federal Government’s naira-for-crude policy, which has streamlined inter-agency operations and improved efficiency.
“Dangote is here to show appreciation, especially regarding the establishment of the One-Stop-Shop policy on naira for crude deals, which is being coordinated by the NPA. He is here to appreciate that the initiative has contributed immensely to achieving a lot of efficiency in the area of transactions and operations between government agencies,” he said.
Dantsoho explained that since the policy started in October 2024, the agency has operated 57 vessels every month.
“The projected volume that Dangote was looking at per annum was 600 vessels. If you do 56 or 57 vessels in 12 months, you will see that we are already doing bigger than what they projected. We will continue to do our best with support from the government. If all agencies of government can collaborate and be on the same dashboard, then efficiencies in other sectors of the economy will also be witnessed,” Dantsoho stated.
He also announced that the government had approved the National Single Window and that the NPA is 95% ready to launch the Port Community System.
On port development, Dantsoho explained that capacity can be increased by upgrading existing ports (brownfield) or building new ones (greenfield). The last greenfield port project was the Tincan Island Port in 1977. Approvals have been granted for the modernisation of Tincan and Apapa ports, with construction expected to begin in the third quarter of this year.
