Dangote acquires 4,000 machines for refinery expansion

Dangote Industries Limited has purchased an additional 4,000 construction machines for its Lekki refinery expansion, raising the total fleet to 6,500 machines. Devakumar Edwin, Group Vice President for Oil and Gas and Fertiliser, revealed this news during a press tour of the refinery in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos. Edwin explained that the company had initially acquired 2,563 pieces of equipment when Julius Berger and other contractors were unable to complete the refinery's main factory buildings due to a lack of capacity.

By acquiring the remaining 4,000 machines, Dangote has become the largest construction equipment company in the world. The President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, chose to buy the equipment directly instead of hiring foreign contractors, as the cost would have been significantly higher. This decision was also influenced by Nigeria's infrastructure deficit, with Edwin noting that the country had only two large cranes with a 150-tonne capacity in 1998.

Dangote Projects Limited, the company responsible for the construction, designed and built the entire refinery using locally sourced materials, avoiding the fees that international contractors would have charged.