00:10Welcome to this new edition of Business Africa, I'm your host Afolake Oynluye, the top stories
00:16this week. On this episode, we speak to Africa's richest man on how its planned East African
00:22mega refinery could accelerate Africa's push to refine its own oil wealth. As global fuel
00:30prices spark amid US-Iran-Israel tensions, Uganda bets on homegrown electric bus innovation
00:36to transform African urban transport. In Rabat, the African Development Bank and OCP
00:44Group launched a nearly 1 billion euro green fertilizer fund to safeguard Africa's food
00:50supply. A proposed mega refinery project backed by Nigerian billionaire Ali Kodangote is still
00:58in regional competition between Kenya and Tanzania, both vying to host the project. The refinery
01:05is seen as a potential game-changer for regions still heavily dependent on imported fuel, despite
01:11significant oil reserves.
01:15Africa has historically imported its raw wealth only to buy it back at a premium. The continent
01:22sits on nearly 10% of the world's crude oil reserves, yet its citizens routinely queue for
01:28hours just to buy a single liter of fuel. The problem? A severe lack of refining capacity.
01:35Africa imports over 70% of its refined fuel, draining over $100 billion in foreign reserves every single
01:44year. The continent's richest man, Ali Kodangote, set out to break this cycle by building the
01:50world's largest single-train refinery, a $20 billion megaproject designed to rewrite continental
01:57trade. Today, the facility processes 650,000 barrels a day, flipping Nigeria from a net importer to a few years
02:05ago.
02:20From a domestic game-changer to a cross-continental industrial giant, how does one group intend to
02:26power the future of Africa? We're here with Ali Kodangote himself. Welcome to the show.
02:32Let's talk about the refinery expansion and why it seemed necessary considering operation started
02:38barely two years ago. The expansion of the refinery is not also just for the Nigerian market, no,
02:42because right now we are way above Nigeria's consumption. We're actually helping a lot of
02:48African countries out of this crisis. So the expansion, we're looking at how do we actually
02:54participate in some of the eastern part of Africa or southern part of Africa, of which from here we'll
03:02be able to now address those issues. And that's the main key why we are putting off a large tank
03:07farm
03:09in Namibia. And then that is in a place called Walrus Bay. From Walrus Bay, we are now pumping it
03:17into
03:17Botswana, Botswana, into Pre-Town, that's South Africa. And then the other pipeline will go to Zimbabwe,
03:26Zimbabwe, it will go to Zambia, Zambia will go to DRC. So we want to be almost everywhere within the
03:34continent. And, you know, it's not only the expansion here. Right as I said today, hopefully, even this
03:42year, I think we'll be able, that is 2026, we'll be able to start the one which we call East
03:49African
03:50refinery. That is not going to be, I don't go to Zimbabwe, we are the promoters. And we are looking
03:55at
03:56building the same capacity with Nigeria. The only difference is that there will do other products like
04:02base oil, which we are not doing here. And because that is going to use much heavier crude. So there
04:09are a couple
04:09of things that we'll do so that the synergy will be there from East Africa, we'll be able to serve
04:15Kenya,
04:17Tanzania, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, on the upper one, Ethiopia, you know, this apart from all the other
04:27inner countries, you know, like part of Zambia, and also part of, you know, Norwanda, part of DRC,
04:36Southern Sudan. The refinery there actually, I believe it is more justified when you look at when we did the
04:43refinery in Nigeria. This one is in East Africa has much bigger in terms of volume than the one in
04:51Nigeria. Now, since the commencement of the refinery, how has it changed the macroeconomic landscape in
04:57Nigeria? By 2030, the group, the group will be refining 2.1 million barrels a day. And if we're at
05:082.2,
05:082.1 million barrels a day, we'll be almost like one of the largest refiners of crude after most likely
05:18after Saudi Aramco. I don't know what Saudi Aramco actually is refining. I have it somewhere. But because,
05:26you know, they have in different countries, but while they have the majority, I think they are the
05:32only ones that will be bigger than us, but will be the second largest in refining in terms of capacity.
05:38Beyond PMS, what impact has petrochemicals and polypropylene production had on the industrial
05:45landscape? It makes me feel great that at least one group can actually make a very big difference. And
05:53that's what we've been actually doing as a group. We have not only done it in petroleum products,
06:00we've done it in sugar, we've done it in cement, and now we're doing it in, you know, petroleum.
06:09Not only petroleum, we're also doing it in petrochemicals. Because today, if not because of
06:16dungote polypropylene, I can tell you for nothing, most of the bargain, in fact, even production of cement
06:24would have been impossible because when we produce it, we need somewhere to pack. So the polypropylene
06:29was very difficult because Saudi Aramco, Iran, all these areas, they've been blocked from coming into
06:35the market. So the difference is heavy, even though some of the elites, they know of it, but they don't
06:44want to accept. It is a game changer. Mr. Ali Kodangoti, thank you so much for making up time for
06:49this
06:49interview. The U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran has left several African countries struggling with rising
06:57fuel prices. In Uganda, a government-backed electric bus plant is offering a cheaper and cleaner mobility
07:04alternative for the continent.
07:10Road transport dominates Africa's mobility landscape where most cars are imported. The continent also
07:17faces several infrastructure problems as well as increased fuel prices due to the Middle East tensions.
07:24But by building bus bodies from ordinary metal to fitting systems and assembling, Uganda is accelerating
07:32electric public transport. About 21% of material of an electric vehicle made here is locally sourced. In terms of
07:43energy, one electric
07:45vehicle can go a distance of up to 350 kilometers without charge, thereby lowering the operational cost of transport.
07:53The e-bus express service has offered transport to about 400,000 passengers in the country over the past two
08:01years. Charging 40 cents for a 15-kilometer
08:06journey, it seeks to grow exponentially by 2030.
08:11To deploy 1,500 Cayola electric buses in 14 cities of Uganda that are powered and charged by a 260
08:23DC fast charging network. But of course, our workforce must be there to envision and also actualize this goal. We
08:32are looking at employing 6,500 Ugandans
08:36directly, of course ensuring that we provide transport for 12.5 million Ugandans daily.
08:48It takes a fortnight to make one bus and engineers here continue to build cheaper technologies to meet rising demand
08:58from other countries like South Africa.
09:05In Rabat, the African Development Bank and OCP Group signed a landmark nearly 1 billion Euro deal to protect Africa's
09:13food supply from the global disruption by building a self-reliant green fertilizer corridor for African farmers. We have more
09:21in this report.
09:24The signing of this major deal marks a historic shift for African farming. By using the African Development Bank's top
09:33financial rating, a 450 million Euro guarantee has instantly unlocked an additional 530 million Euros from international private banks, making
09:44nearly 1 billion Euros available for local production.
09:49This massive cash injection hits the ground just as global markets face severe gridlock.
09:54The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has choked off one third of the world's seaborn fertilizer trade, keeping
10:01up to 3 million tons of critical crop nutrients trapped at sea every single month.
10:06The global supply squeeze was instant, sending standard nitrogen fertilizer prices soaring past $850 per metric tonne.
10:17Sub-Saharan Africa relies on foreign nations for 90% of its fertilizer needs.
10:23Worse, the usage gap is massive.
10:25The global average sits at 135 kilograms of fertilizer per hectare, while African farmers use just 17.
10:35This new 1 billion Euro fund changes the game entirely.
10:40OCP Group is using the money to completely ditch volatile global fossil fuel chains, moving its massive industrial plants to
10:48wind power, solar energy and desalinated water.
10:55With that, we've come to the end of this edition of Business Africa.
10:59For more business stories and the latest updates, stay tuned to African News or visit us online at AfricanNews.com.
11:07See you soon.
11:14Business Africa was presented by Turkish Airlines.
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