Nigerian business tycoon, Aliko Dangote, has criticised African governments for failing to push for the establishment of an oil refinery for the continent over the past decades.

According to the industrialist and chairman of the Dangote Refinery, the lack of political will and interests is a bane in Africa’s quest to establish its oil refinery.

He argued that some of these selfish interests stem from beneficiaries of fuel imports into the continent, which has blocked the ability to refine oil products.

Speaking in an interview with CNN’s Eleni Giokos, Dangote said, “There are so many issues. I can’t count them, but there are so many. It’s not only money, political will, and also people who are benefiting from this whole stuff of importing petroleum products into Africa are actually discouraging those governments from building a refinery."

Africa’s richest man further highlighted the difficulty in obtaining substantial funding from local and foreign banks for initiatives like building a refinery.

"...And they won’t get the loans anyway because they don’t have very strong banks. The international banks will not support anything like this. We’re talking about industrializing the continent, creating a more connected Africa," he stressed.

Dangote continued, “But we have to make sure we focus and say, look, we are the only ones that can deliver. We Africans are the only people that can develop Africa. If we’re waiting for foreigners or foreign investors to come and develop Africa, it will never happen.”

Aliko Dangote, who recently commenced production at his $19 billion Dangote Refinery, mentioned some of the challenges he was currently facing to ensure the business stands.

"If I knew what I was going to go through, I wouldn’t have tried," he admitted.

He mentioned that with the knowledge he has now, he would be more tactical to ensure the business’ success.

On the other hand, Dangote also shared that many individuals including friends and associates doubted his ability to undertake such a project.

"I feel very proud as an African doing this. Nobody ever expected us to pull this through. A lot of people had given up. But we’ve been able to deliver," he expressed.

Dangote, however, said he remains optimistic that his investment in the refinery will yield positive results in the future, particularly in petrochemicals and upstream sectors.

"We Africans are the only people that can develop Africa," Dangote noted.

“If I knew what I was going to go through I wouldn’t have done it” Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote tells me how building a refinery in #Lagos was a Herculean task! He did it, it’s up and running and transforming #Nigeria.

Full interview this weekend on #CNN… pic.twitter.com/OxUwdmVXeE

— Eleni Giokos Ελένη Γιώκου (@EleniGiokos) May 31, 2024