Table of Contents
Key Points
- Dangote’s refinery exports are creating a $400 million annual shipping windfall—Angolan ships are reaping the benefits, not Nigerian operators.
- Despite having $300 million in the CVFF, Nigeria has no shipping fleet to service its oil industry, costing jobs and forex.
- Angola’s modern tanker fleet now powers West Africa’s largest refinery as Nigeria struggles with decades-old maritime policy failure.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Africa’s largest refinery owned by the continent’s richest billionaire, Aliko Dangote, has turned to Angola’s shipping fleet to transport crude and refined products from his $19 billion refinery near Lagos, in a move that exposes the chronic shortfalls in Nigeria’s maritime sector despite its top-tier oil output.
The Dangote Refinery—Africa’s largest—has begun chartering Angolan-flagged Supermax, Aframax, and Suezmax-class vessels to meet its growing export needs, bypassing Nigerian shippers who cannot handle such operations.
Angola fills the gap as Nigeria lags
Angola, among Africa’s top 5 producers, has quietly built a modern shipping fleet through joint ventures and foreign partnerships. It now supplies the deepwater tankers needed for Dangote’s multibillion-dollar refinery operations—vessels Nigeria still lacks. “This is a huge missed opportunity,” said Ladi Olubowale, President of the African Shipowners Association, at the 2025 Maritime Law Seminar in Lagos.
Created in 2006 to boost local vessel acquisition, Nigeria’s Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) has amassed over N350 billion ($300 million) — yet not a single ship has been delivered. Bureaucratic inertia and political delays continue to stall disbursement. “The fund has existed for nearly two decades, but there’s no fleet to show for it,” said Ladi Olubowale. “We need action, not talk.”
Dangote’s refinery, processing 550,000 barrels per day and targeting 650,000 by year-end, generates an estimated $400 million annually in shipping value—revenue now flowing to foreign shipowners. While over 7,000 Nigerian seafarers work globally, the country owns no vessels capable of serving its own refining hub. The gap is draining foreign exchange, jobs, and regional clout.
A blow to energy sovereignty
Dangote’s $19 billion refinery, built to end fuel imports and ease forex strain, is a landmark for Nigeria’s energy independence. But without control of shipping, the country loses freight revenue and cedes regional influence to foreign operators.
Now processing 500,000 barrels per day—and targeting 650,000 bpd by year-end—the Lagos plant operates amid a collapsed maritime sector. The 1990s fall of the Nigerian National Shipping Line triggered a systemic decline. Decades later, high capital costs, weak policy, and no national fleet have left Nigeria sidelined.
With logistics key to regional trade, rivals like Angola and Ghana are racing ahead—building ports, expanding fleets, and emerging as West Africa’s shipping hubs. Dangote Group is pushing forward, eyeing $30 billion in revenue by 2026, led by petrochemical and fertilizer exports. With a net worth of $28.4 billion, Aliko Dangote is reshaping Africa’s industrial future—this time with cleaner fuels, lower costs, and broader reach.
