Ghana seeks fuel imports from Dangote Refinery, boosting Intra-African Trade

Ghana is poised to begin sourcing petroleum products from Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery once it achieves full capacity, which would lessen its dependence on expensive imports from Europe, as stated by the head of Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority.

Currently, Ghana spends around US$400 million each month on fuel imports from Europe. During the OTL Africa Downstream oil conference in Lagos, National Petroleum Authority Chairman Mustapha Abdul-Hamid remarked, “If the refinery reaches its capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, Nigeria won’t be able to consume all of it alone. Therefore, it would be far more convenient and cost-effective for us to obtain fuel from Nigeria instead of importing from Rotterdam.”

The Dangote Refinery, built by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, is expected to be nearing full operation by the end of this year, with analysts predicting it will be fully operational by early 2025.

Hamid further noted that importing from Nigeria instead of Europe could help lower the prices of various goods and services by reducing freight costs. He also emphasized the possibility of African countries establishing a common currency to lessen reliance on the U.S. dollar.

Ghana’s economy, which grew by 6.9 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2024, has been driven by robust growth in the extractive sector, leading to increased fuel demand.