Dangote Refinery Launches 400,000-Tonne Surfactant Plant to End Africa’s Reliance on Imports
Dangote Refinery Launches 400,000-Tonne Surfactant Plant to End Africa’s Reliance on Imports
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has unveiled a major industrial expansion aimed at transforming its operations into a fully integrated refining and trading hub. CEO David Bird revealed that the facility is executing five key growth projects, with the centerpiece being a 400,000-tonne Linear Alkaline Benzene (LAB) plant to produce surfactants the active ingredients in detergents.
Bird noted that Africa currently imports 100% of its detergent and cleaning chemical components. The new LAB plant is designed to eliminate this dependency, providing a local source of surfactants and supporting domestic production of essential cleaning products.
By leveraging Nigeria’s crude production to supply finished industrial raw materials directly to the market, the refinery aims to compete on import parity pricing, cutting costs linked to crude exports and chemical imports.
As the refinery positions itself as a global-class industrial hub, Bird emphasized the need for robust regional regulations to ensure product quality and consumer protection as Africa begins sourcing its industrial chemicals locally.
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