By Abdullahi Lukman
The Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed, has highlighted the strategic role of Dangote Industries Limited—particularly its fertiliser arm—in tackling Africa’s growing food security challenges, urging stronger international collaboration to expand its impact.
Speaking during a visit to the company’s industrial complex in Ibeju-Lekki, Mohammed said the UN would focus on promoting scalable solutions capable of addressing the continent’s food crisis.
She described Dangote’s integrated industrial model as a viable pathway to mitigating food shortages.
“The UN’s role is to amplify and bring visibility to solutions that can help address food insecurity, and this is one of them,” she said, adding that further engagement with global partners and governments would be key to scaling such initiatives.
Her remarks come amid increasing concerns over food shortages and supply chain disruptions across Africa, driven by economic pressures, climate-related shocks, and geopolitical tensions, particularly in the Middle East.
President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries, Aliko Dangote, said the company has expanded exports of urea and Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to African countries affected by supply disruptions.
According to Dangote, the company has intensified fertiliser shipments to support agricultural productivity while also increasing fuel exports to stabilise energy supply across the continent.
“In recent days, we’ve been loading urea to several African countries, which we were not doing before,” he said. “We are also now sending petroleum products mainly to African markets.”
He revealed that the company’s refinery has shipped about 17 cargoes of petrol across Africa, leveraging its 650,000 barrels-per-day capacity to ease supply constraints in multiple regions.
Dangote also noted improvements in crude supply from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, which delivered 10 cargoes in March—six in naira and four in dollars—to support local refining operations.
Despite this increase, he said the supply remains below the 19 cargoes required for optimal production, forcing the refinery to supplement with imports from the United States and other African producers.
He further expressed concern over the reluctance of international oil companies operating in Nigeria to sell crude directly to the refinery, noting that reliance on intermediaries raises costs and impacts the broader economy.
Dangote added that the company is seeking greater access to domestically priced crude under local currency arrangements as part of efforts to reduce fuel costs and strengthen long-term energy and food security across Africa.
