Aliko Dangote says the planned expansion of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery will bring in about 95,000 skilled workers at peak construction, as the project moves toward doubling its current capacity.
The expansion will push the refinery from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day, a scale that would place it above India’s Jamnagar facility and make it the largest refinery in the world once completed.
Dangote made the disclosure in Lagos during his induction as an honorary fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering, where he framed the project as part of a broader push to build industrial capacity using local talent.
The construction phase alone is expected to pull in engineers, technicians, and skilled trades across different levels. The emphasis, according to him, is on keeping a large part of the technical work within Nigeria rather than relying heavily on imported expertise.
Beyond the job numbers, the expansion is tied to a wider industrial agenda. The refinery is expected to deepen local manufacturing links, strengthen the oil value chain, and reduce the country’s dependence on imported fuel. That also feeds into foreign exchange savings, which has been one of the major pressures on the economy.
There is also a technology angle. Large-scale projects like this tend to create spillover effects in engineering capacity and industrial know-how, especially in sectors where Nigeria has traditionally depended on external contractors.
For the engineering community, the recognition at the event was also framed around the impact of the project beyond physical infrastructure. The argument is that it is not just about what is being built, but the kind of technical ecosystem it is helping to shape.
The expansion is planned in phases, with the current output of 650,000 barrels per day set to scale upward over the next few years as construction progresses.
