President, Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has disclosed that he has negotiated a loan of $4.25 billion from two foreign and Nigerian banks to build a refinery to help Nigeria reduce fuel imports.

Refining “is an excellent business to get into,” Dangote said in an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Ryan Chilcote in Cape Town, South Africa, where he was attending a business forum. “We have already secured $4.25 billion from two offshore banks and the rest are Nigerian banks,” he said.

Nigeria imports about 70 per cent of the oil products it needs to meet domestic requirements. The nation’s four refineries process less than the 445,000 barrels a day of their capacities because of aging infrastructure and poor maintenance. The country exports about four times that volume in crude oil.

“Moving into the oil refinery business is smart as there is a clear need for investments in this sector to help the country achieve its GDP growth potential,” Andy Gboka, an analyst at Investment Bank Exotix Ltd., said in London.