Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has received a second crude shipment from Ghana at his Dangote Petroleum Refinery, marking another step in its effort to rely more on West African supply ahead of scheduled maintenance.
The latest cargo carried Ghana’s Sankofa grade and arrived in November, as the refinery reduces purchases from Europe. Crude deliveries to the plant averaged 380,000 barrels a day between September and November—30% lower than the July–August peak, with most shipments coming from Nigeria.
Maintenance work is impacting output. The Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking unit began a two-month shutdown on Dec. 4, while a one-week outage on the Crude Distillation Unit is scheduled for late January. With these units offline, the refinery is relying more on closer suppliers to maintain flexibility.
The refinery, which began operations at 350,000 barrels per day in 2024, now processes about 650,000 barrels daily, with capacity expected to reach 700,000 barrels by late 2025. Ahead of the holidays, petrol prices were cut 5.6%, and U.S.-dollar dividend payments for local shareholders are planned once the $20 billion plant is listed.