Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote says he would rather sell his dollars now than keep them, predicting the naira will soon gain more strength as new government policies and his refinery operations boost the economy.
Speaking on the impact of the facility on the economy, Dangote noted that the refinery has significantly reduced the country’s dependence on imported petroleum products and eased pressure on foreign exchange demand.
He said: “One of the things that people did not realize is that without this refinery, they would have ended up buying the dollar at a ridiculous price, not at 1,475 naira. Today it is 1,455 naira. So it is a significant gain. You would not have seen the dollar rate fall or foreign exchange reserves increase.”
Dangote expressed optimism that the naira will continue to strengthen in the coming months, especially with new government policies aimed at supporting the downstream sector.
“And I can assure you that in the next one or two months, with the government’s new downstream support policy, the dollar rate will improve a lot. If I have dollars today, I would rather sell them than wait until next month,” he added.
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