Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has announced plans to import petroleum from Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery, aiming to bolster the country’s energy security and address its ongoing reliance on costly petroleum imports from outside Africa. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, CEO of the NPA, emphasized that proximity to the Dangote Refinery, based in Lekki, Nigeria, provides Ghana with a more affordable and stable source of refined petroleum, reducing logistical expenses and promoting stronger regional trade ties.
The Dangote Refinery, which has a massive production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, is poised to meet much of West Africa’s petroleum needs, a prospect that has attracted interest from Ghana and other nations within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Ghana’s interest in sourcing petroleum from Dangote is part of a broader strategy to decrease dependency on imports from Europe and the Middle East, where fluctuations in pricing and supply chain disruptions have impacted Ghana’s energy costs.
This move aligns with Ghana’s ambition to establish a $60 billion petroleum hub, which would increase its storage and logistics capabilities, making it easier to handle imported petroleum products. This partnership marks a significant step in strengthening Africa’s intra-regional trade and energy self-sufficiency, benefiting multiple West African nations by reducing reliance on external suppliers and potentially lowering fuel costs across the region.
