By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Dangote Industries Limited has announced the completion of its three million metric tonnes granulated urea fertiliser, noting that the products will flood the Nigerian market from Monday.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Chairman, Dangote Group, made the announcement on Friday, as the Central Bank Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, came on a final inspection tour of the facility in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Emefiele was in company with five senior bankers and Chief Executive Officers of First bank, Guarantee Trust, Access, United Bank for Africa and Zenith banks.
According to Dangote, the three million metric tonnes of Urea is certified and licensed by all regulatory authorities in Nigeria.
“We have gotten all licenses from the National Security Adviser, the Ministry of Agriculture, Standard Organisation of Nigeria, NAFDAC and all other authorities.
“So, our Urea will be in the market from Monday, and by God’s grace, before the end of this month, we will start bringing in dollars from the first line that we have commissioned, ” Dangote said.
He said that the Urea that was inspected was a small percentage of the gas that the country was actually flaring, and it would bring some 1.2billion dollars into the country in terms of foreign exchange.
Dangote thanked Emefiele and the bank chiefs for being there to ensure the success of the plants, noting that the time had come for the country to move away from relying on sale of crude oil.