President Muhammadu Buhari Commissions Dangote’s $2.5billion Fertilizer plant

President Muhammadu Buhari has officially opened the state-of-the-art Dangote Fertiliser Urea Plant, which has a capacity of 3 million metric tons per year. He stated emphatically that the project would give a huge boost to Nigeria's agricultural sector, whose revitalization has been a focal point of his administration's economic policy.

The new factory, which he commissioned in the presence of 18 governors, ministers, captains of industry, and notable traditional rulers, is located on the outskirts of the Dangote refinery in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos Free Trade Zone.

In addition to the Fertilizer Plant producing 3 million metric tons of urea per year which would lower the country's fertilizer imports, it is expected to supply about 120 trucks of fertilizer daily domestically and earn about $400 million from exports at full capacity.

 The products from this newly commissioned fertilizer plant are already in the African market as well as the United States, Brazil, India, and Mexico. Prices are unknown at the time of this writing.

President Buhari, obviously ecstatic, stated that the plant's start-up would provide enormous prospects in the fields of employment, commerce, warehousing, transportation, and logistics. According to the President, the plant "would considerably increase riches, drastically alleviate poverty, and safeguard our nation's future."

"We predict a boom in the agriculture sector, another main element of our economic policy, as fertilizer is now widely available," he stated. Many Nigerians who previously relied on subsistence farming due to a lack of critical inputs are now able to pursue agriculture as a business. We anticipate the emergence of a new breed of agro-preneurs who will add value to farming and make the country food self-sufficient."

According to him, the federal government is more determined than ever to create an enabling environment for private sector investors to thrive, and that his administration will continue to improve infrastructure, power, and security, as well as enact relevant laws and regulations to encourage economic investment.

President Buhari stated that part of the government's work in this area included cooperation with the private sector government via a tax credit system in the restoration of roads across Nigeria as part of Presidential Order No. 7.

In a previous welcome message, Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, described the new facility as a game-changer because it has the potential to make Nigeria self-sufficient in fertilizer manufacturing, with spare capacity to sell to other African and global markets. He further stated that Dangote fertilizer has already reached markets in the United States, Brazil, and Mexico.

According to him, the Fertiliser Plant, Africa's largest granulated Urea fertilizer complex, covers 500 hectares of land, cost $2.5 billion to build, and is predicted to substantially reduce unemployment and youth restiveness in the country by providing job possibilities. According to him, the factory would create new jobs by making high-quality fertilizer available in adequate quantities to farmers.

Agriculture represents 20% of the country's GDP, he said, and the new facility was an ambitious initiative that would generate both direct and indirect jobs, lowering youth unrest.

The fertilizer plant, according to Dangote, is introducing technologies that will alter the agricultural industry, such as extension services for small and medium-scale farmers. It has established a well-equipped fertilizer soil testing laboratory to analyze and identify soil deficiency as well as the proper fertilizer blend.

Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, remarked that Nigeria is beholden to Aliko Dangote for his great strides in adding value to the Nigerian economy. "It is amazing that a Nigerian has not only taken this great initiative of helping to solve our chronic problem of importing petrochemical items, including fertilizer," he says, "but has also taken advantage of the growing huge market opportunity given by recent global events."

President Buhari, Emefiele said, has provided all the assistance needed to put in place economic measures that will reverse the downward trend, citing the completion of the fertilizer factory as an excellent example of the vision being realized.

Given recent changes in the world market, where prices of wheat, fertilizer, and crude oil rose by over 20% following the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, the CBN governor praised the fertilizer factory as timely.

Dr. Mahmood Abubakar, Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture, urged other investors to rise to the occasion, stressing that the Dangote Fertiliser would aid in the country's fertilizer shortages. He also stated that the government will impose industry standards to ensure quality.

Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Lagos State, praised Alhaji Aliko Dangote for constantly paving the road, stating that the Lagos State government was pleased to host many of his firms. "With the largest fertilizer factory in Africa in Lagos and the world's largest refinery coming soon, there is no one who would not be proud of Alhaji Dangote," he continued.

The governor remarked that if another entrepreneur like Dangote could be reproduced in other parts of Nigeria, Nigeria would rapidly forget its myriad economic issues.

Sanwo-Olu also stated that when it comes to providing an enabling climate for businesses to prosper, the Lagos State government could always be counted on.