At a recent economic summit, Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote group announced that his firm plans to produce 12,000 MW of power in Nigeria by 2018. The group intends to achieve this by commissioning gas-powered plants which will be supplied with gas extracted from seabed via a pipeline it also plans to construct.

The plant’s output will be used to respond to Nigeria’s needs. Indeed, according to authorities, the country needs 50,000 MW to achieve optimal development and at least 20,000 MW to attain a satisfactory growth. Rob Bickerman, Head of Enugu’s power supply company, said about $40 billion was needed to build the units that would produce these 20,000 MW.

This goal which is related to Nigeria’s power market is just one of the many facets of the group’s energy policy. In February 2016, Dangote revealed he intended to establish $5 billion worth of charcoal plants across Africa.

More importantly, Africa’s richest man wishes to participate to a significant reduction of imports in his country. “We are looking at a situation where by 2020, we are the one selling foreign currency to Central Bank of Nigeria,” he said.

Gwladys Johnson