Billionaire investor Femi Otedola has projected that the naira could trade below ₦1,000 to the dollar before year-end, citing the operational impact of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Otedola stated this on his X handle while congratulating President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, on the refinery’s attainment of its full production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
He said the facility’s ability to supply up to 75 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) daily marks a turning point for Nigeria and Africa, reshaping the country’s energy architecture.
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According to him, full-scale domestic refining after decades of fuel import dependence is expected to significantly reduce pressure on the foreign exchange market.
“With domestic refining now firmly underway after decades of reliance on imports, pressure on the foreign exchange market should ease significantly. I am optimistic that the naira will strengthen meaningfully, and trading below ₦1,000/$1 before year-end is increasingly within reach,” Otedola wrote.
He also disclosed that Dangote has commenced a fresh $12 billion expansion to raise refining capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day.
The expansion, he added, will include production of 2.4 million tonnes of polypropylene and 400,000 metric tonnes of Linear Alkyl Benzene for detergent manufacturing.
Otedola described the development as a milestone for Nigeria’s economic growth and hailed Dangote’s achievement as historic.
