By Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has said that the just commissioned Dangote Refinery is expected to generate about 12,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity and create over 135,000 permanent jobs.
Emefiele stated this at the official launching and commissioning of the Dangote Oil Refinery, which was officially commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari in Lagos on Monday.
In his own words, ” I am glad to say that this project comes with numerous economic benefits to Nigerians as in the first instance, it will generate over 135,000 permanent jobs. I am also proud to say that electricity of about 12,000 megawatts of electricity would be generated.”
According to the CBN Governor, the project is interior and with significant savings in terms of foreign exchange, Emefiele added that it will also save Nigeria between $25 billion and $30 billion forex annually, as well as give the economy an inflow of $10 billion yearly.
The Dangote Oil and Petrochemical Refinery is a 650,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) capacity oil refinery, and is the largest single train oil refinery in the world. According to Dangote, it is capable of meeting the energy demands for both Nigeria and Africa.