11,000 INDIANS TO WORK IN DANGOTE'S NEW OIL REFINERY

Aliko Dangote's refinery project has the capacity to produce 650,000 barrels per day.

• Aliko Dangote's $20.5 billion oil refinery in Nigeria promises to reduce petroleum prices, marking a significant milestone for the nation's energy industry.
• Controversy arises as Dangote plans to hire 11,000 Indian workers for the refinery, leading to public outrage in Nigeria due to concerns about local employment opportunities.
• The Sub-Saharan African Skills and Apprenticeship Stakeholders Network explains that the decision to hire Indian workers was influenced by a perceived lack of necessary skills among Nigerian youth.

In May 2023, Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest man, triumphantly unveiled his gigantic oil refinery in Nigeria, promising that petroleum prices will be reduced to a certain degree, as a result. The long-awaited project marks a watershed moment in the country's energy industry and Dangote's ambitious plans. The much-awaited project represents an important turning point for the nation's energy industry and Dangote's ambitious endeavors.

While Dangote's idea has been acclaimed by Nigerians, a new report that has been making the rounds has soured the idea. Dangote recently announced plans to employ 11,000 Indians to work at his new refinery rather than provide those jobs to his fellow Nigerians.

Considering the rate of unemployment in Nigeria, the general public is partly outraged that Dangote has instead chosen to hire Indians. However, this decision has been rationalized.

Why the Dangote refinery is planning to hire 11,000 trained employees from India while ignoring young people from Nigeria and other African nations has been revealed by the Sub-Saharan African Skills and Apprenticeship Stakeholders Network.

The organization remarked on Wednesday that the reason for the neglect was that young people from Nigeria lacked the necessary abilities to do the task. The Network stated in a communiqué following its two-day conference in Abuja that it had decided that each African nation should create a national skills qualification framework to facilitate labor movement across the continent.

The regional organization's Secretary-General, Ousman Sillah, signed the statement, which was made public on Wednesday.

The $20.5 billion Dangote refinery, Africa's largest, has a processing capacity of 650,000 barrels per day. It aims to produce 250,000 barrels per day of gasoline and 100,000 barrels per day of gasoline and diesel. These outputs could contribute to fuel self-sufficiency and reduce the $26 billion spent on petroleum imports in 2022.

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