The set-up of the Dangote Urea fertilizer plant to increase food sufficiency in Nigeria by Africa’s leading conglomerate, Dangote Industries Limited, is scheduled to begin full operation in the first quarter of 2021.
According to recent data, in the first phase of the project, the newly constructed fertilizer complex is reported to have gulped $2.5 billion, as the most diversified development conglomerate in Africa expands supremacy into the fertilizer sector, with the fertilizer facility located in the Lekki Free Zone (LFZ), in Lagos State, Nigeria.
The Minister of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Alhaji Sabo Nanono during a tour of the fully completed facility in 2020, said:
“This plant in five-ten years will change Nigeria agriculture and economy, as the efforts by Dangote Industries will help to ward off the crisis encountered in local production which has impacted agriculture.
“As things that are becoming difficult for us will be resolved, especially in oil and for fertilizer due to the singular efforts, by Alhaji Dangote.
“The new fertilizer plant will make fertilizer available to Nigerian farmers, now we can forget all those merchants of fertilizer that have been confusing this country for the last society 40 years, as we have received an answer from somebody who views them and makes it straight to the farmers.”
Dakumar Edwin, the Group Executive Director, Capital Projects and Portfolio Development, Dangote Industries Limited, said:
“What we are now trying to do is customize the fertilizer, as soil condition in Kaduna is different from the soil condition in other states. This is because the climatic condition is different and the crop could be corn, maize, rice or sugar.
“So each crop and each type of soil requires a slightly different type of materials, so what we are trying to do is we are trying to analyze all the soil we are doing the soil mapping process, and then we are trying to make customized.”
Dangote Group announced that it would commence operations before the end of December with its $2 billion Granulated urea fertilizer plant located in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos State.
The take-off of the fertilizer plant had experienced some setbacks due to disturbances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the opening date leading to postponement a few times.
The Fertilizer factory, which is wholly owned by Dangote Industries, is expected to produce urea 3MMTPA, slash Nigeria’s fertilizer imports, and generate exports to African countries for $400 million annual foreign exchange.
It is important to understand that, the capacity of the plant would later be expanded to produce multiple grades of fertilizers to meet soil, crop and climate-specific requirement for the African continent, as fertilizer is essential for agribusiness in Africa.
