Recent plan from Nigeria's richest man prompts fear of potential job losses
Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, plans to distribute fuel directly to Nigerian outlets starting August 2025 via Dangote Oil Refinery.
The initiative was initially praised as transformative but faced criticism for potential monopolistic consequences.
Groups like PETROAN and NOGASA voiced concerns over market control and job losses due to bypassing traditional intermediaries.
While some hailed the move as a game changer for fuel distribution in the country, it quickly sparked widespread concern among key players in Nigeria's oil and gas industry.
Immediately after the announcement, the Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) publicly criticized the initiative, calling it a dangerous overreach.
PETROAN said that enabling Dangote to function as both producer and distributor would result in monopolistic control of the market, harming competition.
Very recently, as reported by the Punch newspaper, another major industrial organization has joined the chorus of criticism.
What NOGASA said
The Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria (NOGASA) has expressed severe misgivings about Dangote's planned distribution strategy.
Traditionally, NOGASA members serve as middlemen, acquiring goods from refineries and distributing them to filling stations and end customers.
With Dangote trying to completely skip these intermediaries, the organization believes that its members would be at risk of job cuts.
Speaking on behalf of the association, NOGASA President Benneth Korie warned that the new agreement could have severe consequences for the downstream sector, including the destabilization of the country's petroleum supply chain.
He elaborated on his initial concern, noting that the transition might result in the loss of thousands of jobs, primarily among those employed by independent merchants, transporters, and suppliers whose livelihoods rely on the current distribution framework.
'A lot of jobs are at stake, and we are kicking against this new way of supplying products to end users,' Korie stated.
'It will remove jobs from a lot of them and some of our staff will be redundant, some of our trucks will be redundant,' he added.
Stakeholders are meeting to discuss the possible effects of the plan as the Dangote refinery gets ready to commence the plan.
A National Executive Council meeting has been set for July 31 by NOGASA in order to address the problem and create a cohesive plan of action.
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