President William Ruto has lauded Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote for his transformative role in addressing Nigeria’s long-standing fuel shortages, describing it as a powerful example of Africa finding solutions from within.
Speaking at the Africa We Build Summit in Nairobi on Thursday, April 23, Ruto cited the development of the Dangote Refinery as a turning point in addressing the country’s oil crisis.
He noted that the refinery demonstrated the importance of African-led solutions to African problems.
“Nigeria has been a producer of oil for as long as we can remember. Yet not long ago, people in Nigeria queued for hours at petrol stations in search of fuel. This persisted for years—until an African stepped forward to change the narrative,” he said.
“That African is Aliko Dangote, who built the Dangote Refinery. The solution to Nigeria’s long-standing fuel challenge did not come from Europe or Asia—it came from within Nigeria itself.”
Ruto added that the experience should serve as a lesson for African governments and investors to rely more on domestic capacity in driving industrial growth and economic transformation.
He stressed that Africa already has the leadership, skills, and financial potential needed to transform its economies, saying what is required now is decisive action and implementation.
“Right here in this room, we have the political leadership, the industrial capacity, and the financial strength needed to transform our continent. We must stop looking elsewhere and start acting now,” he said.
The President also linked the message to Kenya’s ongoing economic reforms, highlighting the establishment of a National Infrastructure Fund and plans for a Sovereign Wealth Fund.
He said the mechanisms are designed to mobilize both public and private capital to finance major infrastructure projects estimated at up to $40 billion over the next decade.
Ruto said Kenya is aligning itself with other African economies pursuing similar strategies, including Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa.
Also Read: Ruto Secures KSh 39.2 Billion for Kenyan Farmers During His Trip to Italy
This comes after the World Bank commended the management of the Dangote Group for the foresight it demonstrated in investing in the 650,000-barrels-per-day refinery, which has protected Nigeria against global energy shortages due to ongoing unrest in the Middle East.
World Bank President, Ajay Banga, told Reuters in an interview that Nigeria, which had long faced problems, stood to benefit from a $20 billion investment made by the Dangote Group in refineries, which had actually increased output during the war, and was now supplying aviation fuel to neighboring countries.
“Nigeria should be breathing a sigh of relief. They’ve built up the ability to have energy security for themselves through that huge investment. It’s actually a really good example of the right thing being done in terms of energy self-sufficiency for them, but also for their neighbours”, he stated.
Dangote Refinery Plans First Pan-African IPO in History
Dangote is planning to list shares in its petroleum refinery on multiple African stock exchanges simultaneously, in a cross-border offering that would be the first of its kind on the continent and the largest equity raising in the history of African capital markets.
The pan-African structure was confirmed by the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) CEO, Frank Mwiti, following a meeting in Lagos last week between Dangote and leaders of several African bourses.
Also Read: NSE Eyes Role in Dangote’s $22B IPO Plan and Fuel Price Games
Dangote appointed Stanbic IBTC Capital, Vetiva Advisory Services, and FirstCap as financial advisers for the initial public offering of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE.
The offering is expected to cover between 5% and 10% of the refinery’s equity. Analysts place the opening valuation at between US$40 billion (KSh 5.18 trillion) and US$50 billion (KSh 6.47 trillion), with the share sale targeting a raise of up to US$5 billion (KSh 647.40 billion), making it the largest IPO ever conducted on an African bourse.
