The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) Godwin Emefiele,has announced that the Dangote Group has cleared 70% of the loans it received from the apex bank to build its oil refinery.

The CBN governor disclosed this while speaking at the official commissioning of the refinery.

He noted that the total loans outstanding have dropped from over $9 billion when this project commenced to N2.7 billion.

According to Emefiele, the Central Bank provided about N125 billion for domestic currency requirements while also ensuring the availability of foreign exchange (FX) to pay for imported equipment to construct the massive plant.

He recalled that the project was initially estimated to cost just about $9 billion but the cost skyrocketed and was eventually completed with a total of $18.5 billion.

He said, “We have it on good authority that the Dangote Group has paid off some portion of these commercial loans even before this commissioning today,” Emefiele said.

“Today, total loans outstanding have dropped from over $9 billion when this project started to N2.7 billion. This reflects the astute credit-worthiness and commercial capability of the group and its chairman, Alhaji Dangote.

“I must at this juncture appreciate all the participating local Nigerian banks, who did not only partner with the project through effective financing but were keenly aware of the importance of the project for our nation.

“They provided immense support and exceptional understanding, even when interest payments and principal repayment had fallen due.”

The governor of the apex bank expressed optimism that the coming of the Dangote Refinery would help Nigeria to stop importing petroleum products including fertiliser.

Dangote’s plant in Lagos is said to be the world’s largest single-train refinery with the capability of producing a variety of products and petrochemicals, instead of having various units for each type of product.

When fully operational, the plant has the capacity to produce about 650,000 barrels of petroleum products a day – more than enough to meet Nigeria’s needs. The plant also includes a power station, deep seaport and fertiliser plant.

Experts hope the refinery will bring an end to the country’s recurring fuel shortages that has affected businesses and investments over the years.