Delay in acquiring and accessing the vast shore line land housing the Dangote  Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals Free Zone cost the company a loss of $630 million in interest, reports Political Economist NG.

Aliko Dangote, President/CE of Dangote Industries, the brain behind the fas- growing conglomerate at a parley with media chiefs, weekend, narrated how bureaucracy caused delay in their accessing the land long after they completed all formalities for its acquisition.

On account of the delay, the company lost a hefty $630 million on interests as they coped with servicing their loans with the banks.

The 650,000 barrels of crude per day refinery sits on an area spreading across 2,635 hectares in Ibeju Lekki area of Lagos. The swathe is largely a swampy land and a lot of money was spent piling the soil to make it strong enough to host the heavy duty infrastructure especially reactors, columns, heat exchangers, air coolers, tanks, pumps among others, Political Economist NG learnt.

To drive home the enormity of the land and the money spent on its development, Dangote said the land area is equivalent to the size of 1,235 football fields from where petrol, kerosene, aviation jet, diesel and other by-products across the value chain are being produced.

The refinery, the largest in Africa, is rated the world’ largest single train refinery as well as the largest Residual Fluid Catalytical Cracking (RFCC) among other features.

Dangote has projected that revenue from the refinery will grow by 6 times over the next one year.

To make it a truly Nigerian asset, he said public listing is expected to happen before the end of first of 2025 for both the refinery and the fertiliser company.