By: Business insider Africa

Nigeria's Minister for Petroleum Resources has revealed that Africa imported $120 billion worth of hydrocarbon resources in 2024 a figure that underscores the continent's vast energy market and the resilience of its oil industry He made this announcement at the OTL Africa Downstream Energy Week in Lagos highlighting a significant financial opportunity

However the minister pointed out a critical problem facing the continent: insufficient refining capacity and distribution networks This deficiency means that most of the $120 billion spent on energy imports flows back to countries outside Africa rather than being retained within the continent To counter this Nigeria's strategic goal is to position itself as the primary refining and distribution hub for all of Africa aiming to capture and retain a substantial portion of this market value

A central player in this national strategy is the Dangote Oil Refinery which with a daily capacity of 650,000 barrels is already reshaping the regional energy landscape The refinery has established itself as a major supplier within West and Central Africa significantly reducing the region's dependence on fuel imports from Europe It now sells key products like diesel and aviation fuel throughout the region marking a major shift in trade flows

The impact of the Dangote refinery has been profound on Nigeria's own economy The country's gasoline imports have plummeted from 500,000 barrels per day in early 2023 to just 88,000 by the first quarter of 2025 This development has transformed Nigeria from Africa's largest petrol importer into a net exporter of refined products with the refinery exporting around one million tons of Premium Motor Spirit in a two-month period

This shift has reconfigured the African energy market with South Africa now holding the position of the continent's largest petrol importer The Dangote refinery's output was a primary driver behind sub-Saharan Africa's crude production increasing by 77.8 percent year-over-year in 2024 validating Nigeria's ambition to become a central energy hub and capture a greater share of the continent's internal energy spending