Yemisi Izuora
The Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed, has underscored the strategic importance of Dangote Industries Limited -particularly Dangote Fertiliser Limited—in addressing Africa’s mounting food security challenges, while calling for stronger global partnerships to scale its impact.
Speaking during a visit to the company’s industrial complex in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, Mohammed said the United Nations would prioritise amplifying scalable solutions capable of mitigating the continent’s food crisis, describing Dangote’s integrated industrial model as a critical pathway.
“I think the UN’s job here is to amplify and to put visibility on the possibilities of mitigating a food security crisis, and this is one of them,” she said. “I hope that when we go back, we can continue to engage partners and countries that should collaborate with Dangote Industries.”
Her remarks come at a time of heightened concern over food shortages and supply chain disruptions across Africa, driven by global economic pressures, climate-related shocks and geopolitical tensions, particularly in the Middle East.
President/Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, said the group has ramped up exports of urea and Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to African markets affected by supply disruptions arising from the crisis.
Noting the widening impact of the situation across the continent, Dangote said the company has intensified shipments of fertiliser to support agricultural productivity and ease supply constraints.
“The challenges are many. One is of urea, which is fertiliser that we have. I think in the last couple of days we’ve been loading to mostly African countries, which we were not doing before,” he said. “And then now it’s to do with petroleum products, which we are now sending mainly to African countries.”
He added that the refinery has shipped about 17 cargoes of petrol to African countries to cushion the impact of the crisis, leveraging its 650,000 barrels per day capacity to stabilise supply across multiple regions.
“What I can do is assure Nigerians … and most of West Africa, Central Africa, and East Africa, we have the capacity to supply them,” Dangote said.
On feedstock supply, Dangote commended the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited for increasing crude deliveries to the refinery in March, noting that volumes rose to 10 cargoes—six supplied in naira and four in dollars—to support domestic fuel availability.
“Last month, they gave us six cargoes for naira and four cargoes for dollars,” he said.
Despite the improvement, the supply remains below the 19 cargoes required for optimal operations, with the refinery continuing to bridge the gap through imports from the United States and other African producers.
Dangote also expressed concern over the unwillingness by international oil companies operating in Nigeria to sell to the refinery, stating that their preference for selling crude to traders forces it to repurchase at higher costs, with broader implications for the economy.
Dangote added that the refinery is seeking increased access to domestically priced crude under local currency arrangements as part of efforts to moderate fuel costs and enhance long-term energy and food security across the continent.