Dangote Refinery diesel will reduce Nigeria’s inflation — Aliko Dangote
President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko
Dangote has revealed how diesel obtained from the Dangote Refinery can reduce Nigeria’s inflation rate.
Nigeria’s inflation rate reached 31.70 percent in February 2024, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), with food inflation at 37.92 percent – a 27yr high. The country’s inflation rate has been on the rise since January 2023.
Similarly, the fluctuating exchange rate of the dollar to naira has been pushing the prices of commodities and services. However, with the gradual gains recorded by the Naira over the past weeks, economic experts predict a gradual fall in the price of goods and prices with some manufacturers like Dufil Prima (makers of Indomie), airlines already crashing their prices.
The price of Diesel had also been affected in recent times by the exchange with the cost per litre rising to over N1,700.
Responding to this hike, Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote has urged Nigerians to expect a drop in inflation given the reduction of diesel pump prices.
Speaking on Wednesday during a chat with journalists after he paid Eid-el-Fitr homage to President Bola Tinubu at his Lagos residence.
“I believe that we are on the right track. I believe Nigerians have been patient and I also believe that a lot of goodies will now come through. There’s quite a lot of improvement because if you look at it, one of the major issues that we’ve had was the naira devaluation that has gone very aggressively up to about N1,900.
“But right now, we’re back to almost N1,250, N1,300, which is a good reprieve. Quite a lot of commodities went up. When you go to the market, for example, something that we produce locally like flour, people will charge you more. Why? Because they’re paying very high diesel prices.
“Now, in our refinery, we started selling diesel at about N1,200 instead of N1,650 and I’m sure as we go along, things will continue to improve quite a lot,” Dangote said.
Speaking further, he said, “If you look at it now, when you are buying N1,650 or N1,700 for a litre of diesel, and that one has been cut off by almost two-thirds, you are now paying N1,200 for diesel.
“Maybe, going forward, even though the crude prices are going up, I believe people will not get it much higher than what it is today, N1,200. It might be even a little bit lower, but that can help quite a lot because if you are transporting locally-produced goods and you were paying N1,650, now you are paying two-thirds of that amount, N1,200. It’s a lot of difference. People don’t know.
“This can help to bring inflation down immediately. And I’m sure when the inflation figures are out for the next month, you’ll see that there’s quite a lot of improvement in the inflation rate. So a step at a time. And I’m sure the government is working around the clock to make sure that things get much better because it is in the interest of everybody that things get better.
Recall that marketers had earlier confirmed that the Dangote Refinery had commenced the sale of Diesel and that the product was dispensed to marketers at between N1,225/litre and N1,300/litre depending on the volume of purchase.
