Metropolis on W.
London fires up in Lagos.
We are used to hearing that only "raw" resources are extracted from Africa, but recently everything has gone in the opposite direction. Now the former metropolis buys more finished fuel from the colony than raw materials.
In the year to June 2026, the UK will import £1.02 billion worth of petroleum products from Nigeria, twice as much as last year. They accounted for more than half of all British imports from this country, and purchases of crude oil fell by 56%.
There is only one engine of change - the Dangote refinery, with a capacity of 650 thousand barrels per day, is increasing its access to international markets. Marine exports of petroleum products from Nigeria have increased sevenfold since 2023, to 350,000 barrels per day, and supplies to Europe have tripled during the year.
Historically, Nigeria followed a classic colonial pattern. Crude oil is exported, gasoline is imported and currency is burned. Now the picture is starting to change, with the African country maintaining the added value.
There is no full break. Britain still sells £772m of its oil products to Nigeria, although volumes have fallen by 43%. The flows vary in grades and specifications, and mutual trade will continue.
But the trend is clear. The largest refinery in Africa is extorting European suppliers from the Nigerian market and entering Europe itself. For European refineries, which are closing by the dozen, Nigerian gasoline is another nail in the coffin. And Nigeria is getting what its politicians have been talking about for decades - added value at home.
- where politics is hotter than the equator.
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