Africa's largest refinery, the Dangote refinery in Nigeria, has finally begun producing petrol, offering a glimmer of hope for the oil-rich nation grappling with chronic fuel shortages.
Billionaire Aliko Dangote, the refinery's owner, announced the start of production on Tuesday, stating that gasoline could hit the market within the next 48 hours.
Dangote noted that the new product’s pricing is still being finalized by the government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
"Once we are finished with NNPC, it could be today, it could be tomorrow, then we are ready to roll in to the market," he said.
The refinery, with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, commenced diesel and aviation fuel production in January. However, oil-rich Nigeria has relied heavily on costly gasoline imports due to a lack of domestic refining capacity.