Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za
23 July 2024 | 23:49 p.m. SAST
2-minute read

A vast new oil refinery in Nigeria, the Dangote Refinery, was established to end the country’s dependence on imported petroleum products.

The facility can produce up to 650 000 barrels per day (bpd) when operating at full capacity, making it Africa’s largest oil refinery.

“The oil refinery capacity will meet Nigeria’s domestic demand of 450 000 barrels per day, and the surplus will be exported. It will go a long way in saving Nigeria a lot of foreign currency that it uses to import petroleum products,” Sizo Nkala said today on Radio Islam’s Africa Report.

Nkala, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg, noted that Nigeria’s expenditure on importing petroleum products is exorbitant, despite being Africa’s biggest crude oil producer. This is largely because state-owned refineries in the country are not operational.

Built by Aliko Dangote, the Dangote Refinery is a privately owned facility and began production in January 2024. However, it has been unable to get adequate crude supplies in Nigeria, a Reuters report indicates, because of theft, pipeline vandalism and low investment, and has subsequently been importing the fuel from as far afield as Brazil and the United States.

Now, Nigerian legislators are investigating allegations that the refinery imported polluted fuel into the country.

Meanwhile, the Rwandan election, which was held last Monday and in which President Paul Kagame won almost 100% of the vote, has sparked concerns about ‘true’ democratic freedom in the country.

“While the outcome of the elections reflect maybe his popularity, they also raise concerns about the shrinking democratic space in Rwanda,” Nkala said. “There were key or prominent opposition candidates that were banned from participating in the elections. Some were jailed, some were told that their criminal records are barring them,” he added.

In Kenya, violent youth protests have been raging since the 18 June 2024. A finance bill was passed to raise taxes to meet the country’s fiscal needs was the initial catalyst for the rally.

However, protests continued even after President William Ruto responded by withdrawing the bill.

“Now, they [the protests] have morphed into a wider anti-government protest, calling for the resignation of parliamentarians, calling for even the resignation of the president himself,” Nkala explained.

Despite numerous responses from the president, including calls for negotiation and a cabinet reshuffle, the protest has spread from Nairobi to other parts of the country.

“We will wait and see what the outcome is, but Ruto is digging in. He doesn’t seem to want to go anywhere,” Nkala said.

Listen to the Africa Report on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.