The price of petrol in Nigeria remains lower than in several neighbouring countries, creating a significant incentive for cross-border smuggling, President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has said.
Dangote, who spoke during an interview with Arise Television on Tuesday, said discussions about petrol prices in Nigeria should take into account the cost of the commodity in neighbouring countries, where consumers often pay considerably more.
According to the businessman, the price disparity means that traders can buy petrol in Nigeria and move it across the borders for resale at higher prices, thereby creating an additional demand that could put pressure on domestic supplies.
“Expensive is relative in the sense that today, for a lot of them, there’s ignorance also. What they need to do is to ask what the neighbour’s price is,” he said.
Dangote said petrol prices in some neighbouring countries were between 30 and 50 per cent higher than Nigeria's, making the movement of locally available fuel across the borders potentially profitable.
“I don’t know if you know that there’s still a lot of smuggling of the same petrol we are producing to our neighbouring countries because those neighbouring countries are about 30 percent to 50 percent more expensive than Nigeria,” he said.
He specifically cited Niger Republic, where he said petrol was about 20 to 25 per cent more expensive than in Nigeria, using a domestic Nigerian pump price of N1,350 per litre as a reference.
“So what business are you going to do that will make you a 25 percent return?” he asked.
The Dangote Industries president said the price differential could encourage some traders to redirect petrol intended for the Nigerian market towards border communities, where it could be sold at a premium.
His comments came against the backdrop of reported increases in petrol prices at some filling stations across the country on Monday. Pump prices were reported to have risen to about N1,400 per litre in Lagos and N1,450 per litre in Abuja.
Dangote assures Nigerians of supply
Despite concerns over rising pump prices and the possible effect of international developments on energy supplies, Dangote assured Nigerians that his refinery would continue to supply the domestic market.
He also spoke about the potential implications of the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, particularly its possible impact on global energy supply and availability.
Dangote said Nigerians should not be concerned about shortages from his refinery, promising that the facility would continue meeting demand in the domestic market.
“We will make sure that Nigeria will be fully delivered. We will deliver to Nigeria. Nigerians don’t need to worry,” he said.
“There will not be any shortage from our own part. There won’t be any shortage. There will not be any queues.
“And we’ll make sure that we keep satisfying the market.”
The assurance comes amid continuing sensitivity around petrol availability and pump prices, following the removal of the petrol subsidy and subsequent fluctuations in the cost of the commodity.
Policy uncertainty, electricity crisis
Beyond the petroleum market, Dangote identified inconsistent government policies and inadequate electricity supply as two major challenges confronting businesses and manufacturers in Nigeria.
He said uncertainty arising from changes or inconsistencies in government policies could make long-term business planning difficult, while the country's unreliable electricity supply was forcing manufacturers to depend heavily on alternative sources of energy.
“The greatest problem, there are two, which are still existing. One is inconsistencies in government policies. The second one is to do with lack of electricity,” he said.
Dangote particularly pointed to the rising cost of diesel, which many businesses rely on to power generators when public electricity supply is unavailable.
He argued that the high cost of alternative energy was making it increasingly difficult for manufacturers to maintain profitable operations, with the effects eventually extending to consumers through higher production costs.
“You cannot manufacture goods with diesel. You can see where diesel is today. You can’t even produce bread and make money today. So, we have to look at that today,” Dangote said.
Africa's power deficit
Dangote also drew attention to Africa's wider electricity-access challenge, saying hundreds of millions of people across the continent still lack reliable access to electricity.
“We must make sure, even for us, really, as Africans, we cannot sit down and see that everybody is complaining. 600 million of our people, they actually don’t have power,” he said.
He said the magnitude of the electricity deficit required more than continued complaints about the problem, suggesting that African business leaders and other stakeholders would need to explore practical ways of expanding electricity generation and access.
According to Dangote, the scale of the challenge has already encouraged some African business leaders to consider direct intervention in the power sector as part of efforts to address the continent's persistent electricity deficit.
His remarks place Nigeria's petrol-price debate within a broader discussion about energy security, industrial production and the cost of doing business, as manufacturers continue to contend with high energy costs and other structural challenges.