Dangote to generate $400m export from urea fertilizer production

Dangote Industries Limited has said that its urea fertilizer plant has the capacity to meet local and foreign demands for fertilizer, and as well generate $400 million annual foreign exchange from export to African countries.

Currently pushing out a minimum of 120 trucks per day across the country, the fertilizer plant is expected to manufacture three million metric tonnes of urea per annum.

This was disclosed to the press over the weekend by the Group Executive Director, Strategy, Capital Projects & Portfolio Development, Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin.

Edwin said: “We have the capacity to turn out 4,500 tonnes of Urea every day. This is a bulk application fertilizer as each crop in Nigeria or globally will require Nitrogen and this is a rich fertilizer, having 46 percent Nitrogen. The company has the capacity to meet local demand and also export to African countries.

“Currently the demand is less than one million tonnes and we alone can produce three million tonnes, so we can easily meet local demand and also produce for export to other West African countries.”

Edwin also disclosed that apart from fertilizer production, the company was already working to support the farmers with training on the application of the fertilizer and even establish laboratories across the country for proper soil examination.

“The uniqueness of this plant, apart from the fact that we are producing is the focus on farmers’ support, on training, education, development as we are now establishing laboratories across the country and even mobile laboratories where we can go drive around and take soil samples for proper examination to effectively grow the agricultural outputs across the country.”

Dangote Industries Limited has the largest fertilizer plant in West Africa. The fertilizer complex project is located at the Lekki Free Zone (LFZ), in Lagos State, Nigeria.

The company said the coming on stream of Dangote Fertilizer would surely make Africa self-sufficient in food production and a net exporter of food to the world.