The Dangote Refinery will be officially opened by President Muhammadu Buhari in Lagos on May 22.
The development was reported in a tweet on Sunday by Bashir Ahmad, the president's special assistant for digital media.
The tweet reads:
“Efforts by the Federal Government to make Nigeria self-sufficient in local refining of crude oil to save the scarce foreign exchange used in the importation of petroleum products have received a boost as the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery, the world’s largest single-train refinery, is set for inauguration on May 22nd, 2023, by President Muhammadu Buhari.”
In the Lekki free trade zone of Lagos state, there is a 650,000 barrels per day (BPD) integrated refinery project called the Dangote Refinery.
The undertaking is both the largest single-train facility in the world and the largest oil refinery in Africa, with a construction cost estimate of $19 billion.
9,500 direct employment and 25,000 indirect jobs are anticipated to be created by the integrated refinery and petrochemical plant.
Nigeria's fuel requirements should be more than satisfied by its output, which will transform Africa's top crude producer into a refined crude exporter.
Aliko Dangote, the chairman of the Dangote Group and the richest man in Africa, promised last year that his oil refinery would be operational before President Buhari's term ended.
The federal government would purchase a 20% equity part in the Dangote Refinery, according to Mele Kyari, group managing director of NNPC, who made the announcement in June 2021.
The amount of $2.76 billion was authorized by the federal executive council (FEC) two months later for the purchase of a 20 percent minority equity stake in the refinery.