Femi Otedola, chairman of First HoldCo, has expressed confidence that the naira will appreciate significantly and could trade below ₦1,000 to the dollar before the end of the year, as domestic refining gathers full momentum.
His remarks follow an announcement on Wednesday by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery that it has reached its full production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd).
The refinery said it achieved the milestone after fully restoring and optimising its crude distillation unit (CDU) and motor spirit (MS) production block after scheduled maintenance.
In a post on Thursday, Otedola said that with local refining now firmly established after decades of reliance on fuel imports, pressure on the foreign exchange market is expected to ease considerably.
“I am optimistic that the naira will strengthen meaningfully, and trading below ₦1,000/$1 before year-end is increasingly within reach,” Otedola said.
He also congratulated Aliko Dangote, founder of the refinery, describing the development as the remarkable “achievement of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery reaching its full 650,000 barrels per day capacity”.
According to Otedola, the impact goes beyond production figures.
“More importantly, it is transformational for Nigeria and Africa. Supplying up to 75 million litres of PMS daily changes our energy narrative and conserving foreign exchange,” Otedola said.
He added that Dangote is not resting on the milestone, noting that the industrialist has embarked on an additional $12 billion expansion project aimed at increasing refining capacity to 1.4 million bpd. The expansion will also include the production of 2.4 million tonnes of polypropylene and 400,000 metric tonnes of linear alkyl benzene used in detergent manufacturing.
“Work has already commenced in earnest,” Otedola said.
Otedola said “Nigeria is proud” of Dangote, whom he described as his brother.
Meanwhile, on January 29, the naira appreciated to ₦1,400.47 against the dollar at the official segment of the foreign exchange market.
Otedola Predicts Naira Will Trade Below ₦1,000/$1 as Dangote Refinery Hits Full Capacity
Femi Otedola, chairman of First HoldCo, has expressed confidence that the naira will appreciate significantly and could trade below ₦1,000 to the dollar before the end of the year, as domestic refining gathers full momentum.
His remarks follow an announcement on Wednesday by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery that it has reached its full production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd).
The refinery said it achieved the milestone after fully restoring and optimising its crude distillation unit (CDU) and motor spirit (MS) production block after scheduled maintenance.
In a post on Thursday, Otedola said that with local refining now firmly established after decades of reliance on fuel imports, pressure on the foreign exchange market is expected to ease considerably.
“I am optimistic that the naira will strengthen meaningfully, and trading below ₦1,000/$1 before year-end is increasingly within reach,” Otedola said.
He also congratulated Aliko Dangote, founder of the refinery, describing the development as the remarkable “achievement of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery reaching its full 650,000 barrels per day capacity”.
According to Otedola, the impact goes beyond production figures.
“More importantly, it is transformational for Nigeria and Africa. Supplying up to 75 million litres of PMS daily changes our energy narrative and conserving foreign exchange,” Otedola said.
He added that Dangote is not resting on the milestone, noting that the industrialist has embarked on an additional $12 billion expansion project aimed at increasing refining capacity to 1.4 million bpd. The expansion will also include the production of 2.4 million tonnes of polypropylene and 400,000 metric tonnes of linear alkyl benzene used in detergent manufacturing.
“Work has already commenced in earnest,” Otedola said.
Otedola said “Nigeria is proud” of Dangote, whom he described as his brother.
Meanwhile, on January 29, the naira appreciated to ₦1,400.47 against the dollar at the official segment of the foreign exchange market.
Otedola Predicts Naira Will Trade Below ₦1,000/$1 as Dangote Refinery Hits Full Capacity
Femi Otedola, chairman of First HoldCo, has expressed confidence that the naira will appreciate significantly and could trade below ₦1,000 to the dollar before the end of the year, as domestic refining gathers full momentum.
His remarks follow an announcement on Wednesday by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery that it has reached its full production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd).
The refinery said it achieved the milestone after fully restoring and optimising its crude distillation unit (CDU) and motor spirit (MS) production block after scheduled maintenance.
In a post on Thursday, Otedola said that with local refining now firmly established after decades of reliance on fuel imports, pressure on the foreign exchange market is expected to ease considerably.
“I am optimistic that the naira will strengthen meaningfully, and trading below ₦1,000/$1 before year-end is increasingly within reach,” Otedola said.
He also congratulated Aliko Dangote, founder of the refinery, describing the development as the remarkable “achievement of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery reaching its full 650,000 barrels per day capacity”.
According to Otedola, the impact goes beyond production figures.
“More importantly, it is transformational for Nigeria and Africa. Supplying up to 75 million litres of PMS daily changes our energy narrative and conserving foreign exchange,” Otedola said.
He added that Dangote is not resting on the milestone, noting that the industrialist has embarked on an additional $12 billion expansion project aimed at increasing refining capacity to 1.4 million bpd. The expansion will also include the production of 2.4 million tonnes of polypropylene and 400,000 metric tonnes of linear alkyl benzene used in detergent manufacturing.
“Work has already commenced in earnest,” Otedola said.
Otedola said “Nigeria is proud” of Dangote, whom he described as his brother.
Meanwhile, on January 29, the naira appreciated to ₦1,400.47 against the dollar at the official segment of the foreign exchange market.