The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, has described the Dangote Petroleum Refinery as a powerful symbol of hope and a rallying point for industrial advancement across Africa.
Speaking during a high-level visit to the 650,000 barrels-per-day refinery in Lagos, Dr. Touray lauded the $19 billion facility as not only a technological marvel but also a testament to what African private sector players can achieve when given the right environment.
“What I have seen today gives me a lot of hope, and everybody who doesn’t believe in Africa should come here,” Touray said.
“This is exactly what our continent should focus on—practical, large-scale industrial development led by visionary Africans.”
The ECOWAS delegation included key commissioners such as Sediko Douka (Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalisation), Prof. Nazifi Abdullahi Darma (Internal Services), Dr. Tony Luka Elumelu (Private Sector/SME), and Hon. Abdou Kolley, the ECOWAS Chief of Staff, among others.
Dr. Touray emphasised that the refinery, which produces fuel to the Euro V emission standard, offers the region a unique opportunity to meet its 50 parts per million (ppm) sulphur regulation for petroleum products.
He criticised the continued importation of substandard fuels that pose environmental and health risks across West Africa.
“We are still importing products below our standard when a regional company such as Dangote can meet and exceed these requirements,” he noted. “The private sector must take the lead in ECOWAS industrialisation.”
Calling for deeper synergy between governments and the private sector, Touray stressed that industrial policies must reflect the lived realities of African entrepreneurs and investors.
“This visit is not just symbolic,” he said. “It is a strategic opportunity to listen to the private sector directly—to understand the bottlenecks they face and the enabling conditions they need. Decisions made in boardrooms far from industry realities cannot deliver transformation.”
As ECOWAS marks its 50th anniversary, Dr. Touray said the community is renewing its commitment to making the private sector a central partner in shaping the region’s economic future.
“We cannot continue to make decisions on behalf of the private sector from a distance,” he added. “Our job is to create an environment that works for them.”
He also underscored the need for an inclusive industrial strategy capable of addressing unemployment, insecurity and poverty—problems that governments alone cannot solve.
“Only the private sector can deliver the scale of impact required,” he stated. “We need to listen, remove barriers, and work together to unlock the prosperity our people deserve.”
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man and the visionary behind the refinery, has previously said the project was inspired by a desire to make Nigeria self-sufficient in refined petroleum products and transform Africa from a raw material-exporting continent to one producing value-added goods.
With its sheer scale and ambition, the Dangote Refinery is rapidly being recognised not only as a game changer for Nigeria but as a flagship of regional integration and economic resilience.
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