Dangote Industries Denies Economic Sabotage Allegations

Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) has issued a statement to refute the claims that the company is being probed for alleged illegal foreign exchange deals and money laundering.

The statement, signed by the management of DIL, described the allegation as “spurious and a rehash of a similar report peddled out of malice by a competitor masquerading as a concerned Nigerian in 2016.”

The statement said that the company has always sourced its foreign exchange for its numerous projects strictly from the Interbank Foreign Exchange market in compliance with the CBN approvals.

The statement also explained that the company has used Letters of Credit instruments to pay for the construction of its various operational plants and for the purchase of heavy equipment and spares required for the take-off of the Dangote Cement plants. The statement said that there was no single payment that was made through any Dubai company owned by the company.

The statement further said that all the foreign exchange purchased in respect of its African Projects expansion were fully utilised for what they were meant for.

The statement said that the projects for which the foreign exchange was utilised are visible for everyone to see, and that some of them were commissioned by Nigerian top-ranking government officials and in attendance were Chief Executives of various banks, Captains of Industries and the Presidents of the host countries supported by their Senior Government Officials.

The statement also said that the funds invested in its expansion project across African countries are legitimate capital investments in those countries and the repatriation of foreign exchange in sum of $576 million so far has helped to boost foreign exchange earnings in Nigeria and stabilise the foreign exchange market.

The statement said that the company has always funded the construction of its various plants from Interbank Foreign Exchange Market in line with the CBN directives and relevant periodic progress reports were submitted to the banks for onward submission to the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The statement also said that the company has complied with the regulations of the host countries where it operates, and that all the payments made in respect of its various African Projects can be further verified, having been audited over the years by its auditors, Messrs Deloitte & Touche and KPMG in course of their statutory audits.

The statement said that the CBN gave the company approvals between 2010 to 2018 to purchase foreign exchange totaling $3.755billion from the Interbank market for the funding of its various African Projects out of which it has utilised only 47.70 percent of the approvals in the total sum of N1.791billion.

The statement came on the heels of a report by Reuters, that the United States waterborne imports of crude from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its non-OPEC partners, dropped steadily over the last year, further tightening supplies in the U.S. while supporting other markets including Europe.

The report said that total U.S. crude waterborne imports averaged 2.47 million barrels per day in October, down from 2.92 million bpd in September, according to figures from data intelligence firm Kpler, with shipments falling from OPEC+ producers including Nigeria, Algeria and Saudi Arabia.

The statement also said that the earnings from crude oil weakened, due to a decline in the prices of crude oil, exacerbated by the United States’ debt situation. The statement said that crude oil and gas export receipts fell by 3.8 per cent to $4.06 billion, from $4.22 billion in April. The statement said that the average spot price of Nigeria’s reference crude oil, the Bonny Light (34.9° API), dipped by 11.16 per cent to $76.91 per barrel, from $86.57 pb in the preceding month.

The statement, however, noted that domestic crude oil production rose to 1.18 million barrels per day, while crude oil export rose to 0.73 mbpd mainly due to the lifting of a force majeure by Exxon Mobil, following the suspension of industrial action by the workers’ union.

The statement said that Nigeria’s crude oil production rose by 19.2 per cent to 1.18 mbpd in May, from 0.99 mbpd in the preceding month. The statement said that Nigeria’s production level remained below the OPEC monthly quota of 1.742 mbpd by 0.562 mbpd.

The statement concluded by saying that the company is committed to the development of the Nigerian economy and the oil and gas sector, and that it will continue to operate with the highest standards of corporate governance and transparency. The statement also said that the company is not involved in any form of economic sabotage, and that it will cooperate with the relevant authorities to clear its name from any false accusation.

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