DANGOTE REFINERY TO EMPLOY 8,000 ENGINEERS, CREATE JOBS fOR 85,000 NIGERIANS

The President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said about 8,000
engineers would be needed for the smooth takeoff of the nine- billion-
dollar Dangote Refinery/Fertiliser plant in Ondo.
Dangote told State House correspondents on Wednesday in Abuja that the
project, when completed, would provide direct and indirect jobs for
85,000 Nigerians.
He said the group had secured a 3.3 billion-dollar credit facility
from a consortium of banks for the project.
According to him, importation of petroleum products will end by 2016
as the plant will commence production in the next threeyears.
He said his plan was to make the country self-reliant in petrochemical
and petroleum products, as well as make it an industrial giant.
"Now, Nigeria is going to be taken out of the list of countries that
import petroleum products. We will produce 20 million metric tonnes
which is equivalent to what Nigeria consumes currently.
"Today, we did the signing ceremony, the vice-president came to
witness the signing but we insisted on coming to thank Mr president
for his policies .
"Without good government policies, there is no way the private sector
can invest in Nigeria, because we are not Father Christmas at all. The
policies have to be right,'' he said.
According to Dangote, Nigeria currently spends about 30 billion
dollars annually on importation of petroleum products.
He said the complex planned by his group would make Nigeria a net
exporter of petroleum products, including diesel and aviation fuel, as
well as poly-propylene and fertiliser. (NAN)