Billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has projected that the naira could appreciate to below ₦1,000 against the dollar before the end of the year, attributing the potential rebound to the full operational rollout of the Dangote Group refinery.
Otedola made the projection in a post on X while congratulating Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, on the refinery’s attainment of its full production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
According to him, the refinery’s capacity to supply up to 75 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) daily marks a major turning point for Nigeria’s economy and the wider African energy market.
“With domestic refining now firmly underway after decades of reliance on imports, pressure on the foreign exchange market should ease significantly,” Otedola stated. “I am optimistic that the naira will strengthen meaningfully, and trading below ₦1,000/$1 before year-end is increasingly within reach.”
Nigeria has historically depended on imported refined petroleum products, a development that exerted sustained pressure on foreign exchange reserves. Otedola argued that the transition to large-scale domestic refining would drastically reduce dollar demand for fuel imports, helping to stabilise the local currency.
He further disclosed that Dangote has commenced an additional $12 billion expansion project aimed at scaling up refining capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day. The expansion, he said, will also boost petrochemical output, including 2.4 million tonnes of polypropylene and 400,000 metric tonnes of Linear Alkyl Benzene — a key raw material used in detergent manufacturing.
Describing the refinery milestone as historic, Otedola said it signals not only industrial advancement but also a broader economic reset capable of strengthening the naira, enhancing energy security, and stimulating local manufacturing.
The projection comes amid ongoing economic reforms targeted at stabilising Nigeria’s currency and deepening domestic production capacity.
