Jumoke Olasunkanmi
The African Export-Import bank, Afreximbank, has granted a loan of $259 million to a Nigerian company, Azikel Petroleum Refinery, a subsidiary of the Azikel Group, for a refinery project in the country.
According to Azikel’s public relations officer, Austin Ebipade, the deal, which was signed by the president of the Azikel Group, Dr. Azibapu Eruani and Afreximbank’s Director of Project and Asset Based Finance, Helen Brume, will promote industrialisation in Nigeria.
“The debt funding is the participation of Afreximbank in the construction, development and operation of the 12,000 bpd Azikel Hydro-skimming Refinery in Bayelsa State,” he said.
Speaking after the signing ceremony, Eruani stated that the refinery will solve the problem of petroleum products insufficiency and promote sustainable development in the country and Africa as a whole.
“The Azikel refinery project is aimed to bring relief to the challenges of refined petroleum products insufficiency in Nigeria,” he stated, adding that the deal will usher in sustainable development, thereby creating energy sufficiency for the development of Nigeria and the African continent.
With this, he said, Nigeria will be the hub of refined products and abundant clean energy.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulation Commission (NUPRC) had pledged in October to take all necessary steps to ensure that sufficient and regular supply of crude oil to incoming refineries in Nigeria. The commission had met with 52 oil companies to increase feedstock so as to be able to cater to new refineries.
