Femi Otedola, chairman of First HoldCo, has expressed confidence that the naira could strengthen significantly and trade below ₦1,000 to the dollar before the end of the year, citing progress in domestic refining.
The billionaire businessman said the shift from decades of fuel import dependence to local production would reduce pressure on Nigeria’s foreign exchange market. The naira currently trades around ₦1,400/$1, including ₦1,400.47 at the official FX market window as of January 29.
“With domestic refining now firmly under way after decades of reliance on imports, pressure on the foreign exchange market should ease significantly. I am optimistic that the naira will strengthen meaningfully, and trading below ₦1,000/$1 before year-end is increasingly within reach,” Otedola stated.
His comments followed an announcement by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery that it has reached its full production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd). The company said output peaked after the successful restoration and optimisation of its crude distillation unit (CDU) and motor spirit (MS) production block after scheduled maintenance.
Otedola congratulated Aliko Dangote, founder of the refinery, describing the milestone as historic.
“More importantly, it is transformational for Nigeria and Africa. Supplying up to 75 million litres of PMS daily changes our energy narrative and conserving foreign exchange,” Otedola said.
He further disclosed that Dangote has commenced an additional $12 billion expansion project aimed at increasing refining capacity to 1.4 million bpd. The expansion will also include production of 2.4 million tons of polypropylene and 400,000 metric tons of linear alkyl benzene used in detergent manufacturing.
“Work has already commenced in earnest,” Otedola said.
Describing Dangote as his brother, Otedola added that “Nigeria is proud” of the achievement, noting that the refinery’s growth could play a pivotal role in strengthening the country’s currency and reducing forex outflows.
