Encomium
Before the first drop of oil flowed through the pipes in Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, the company lost huge sums of money – and $630 million of it was repayment of interest on the $2.65 billion loan it was granted.
The interest payment was long before the company even started constructing the complex as one delay after another elongated its kick off.
From wasting over three and half years at the Ogun State site, to another one and half years on the marshy grounds in Lagos (after the payment of $100 million), $630 million interest payment almost terminated the company’s existence.
The President and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, revealed on Sunday (July 14) the misadventures that almost jeopardized the company’s take off.
Because they couldn’t access the land in Olokola, Ogun State, soil test and design were suspended. And the state lost the venture.
Then in Lagos after the payment, they faced obstacles from land owners who only showed up when they accessed the land. They now wanted their compensation (which they earlier ignored) and hired lawyers, and the battle raged from the end of Governor Babatunde Raji-Fashola’s tenure to the first one and half years of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.
“And interest was mounting!”
And with COVID 19, many of the banks thought the project was doomed. The international banks were eager to push the refinery into default of the loans so the project would stop. With the support of financial institutions like Afrexim Bank (African Export-Import Bank) and Access Bank, the project struggled and managed to surmount all the obstacles.
