Speaking to members of the press on Monday, Dangote used the opportunity to explain why the much-anticipated deployment of his company’s Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered fuel trucks has yet to be fully commissioned, despite the vehicles already being stationed at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

“We don’t have space anymore at the refinery, so what we are trying to do is get them on the road cause they are not meant to be parked,” he stated.

Dangote clarified that although the vehicles are physically present, their deployment has been hampered by operational constraints, especially those related to security and compliance.

The Nigerian billionaire disclosed that the sealing mechanism needed for fuel loading is one of the main unsolved problems.

“But the main issue and the problem that we have is that those seals are not yet here… when you load, you have to seal it, otherwise, the drivers take some of it (fuel) as their own share.”

Beyond the immediate logistical difficulties, Dangote took the opportunity to criticize Nigeria's excessive reliance on long-distance petroleum trucking, calling it antiquated and ineffective in comparison to methods employed throughout much of Africa.

“Whether we buy these trucks or not, the industry needs a major revolution… it is only in Nigeria that we are using trucks for a long journey,” he stated.

“The majority of all these eastern and southern African countries are using pipelines, but our own pipelines have been destroyed,” he added.

His comments come against the backdrop of the Dangote Group’s ambitious push to overhaul fuel distribution across Nigeria.

Dangote’s distribution plan

In June, the Dangote Oil Refinery confirmed plans to resume direct delivery of refined petroleum products to filling stations, industrial plants, and other bulk fuel consumers nationwide, using CNG trucks.

This followed a massive ₦720 billion investment in 4,000 CNG-powered trucks acquired through Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals.

According to the company, the fleet is scheduled to begin phased deployment from August 15, 2025, with the goal of cutting out layers of intermediaries that traditionally inflate fuel prices.

The CNG-powered trucks are estimated to be approximately 40% cheaper to operate than diesel-powered tankers, a shift that is expected to reduce logistics costs and ease pressure on pump prices significantly.

The refinery projects that as many as 42 million micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) could benefit from lower energy and transportation costs once the distribution system is fully operational.

However, progress has not been without setbacks.

Reports in August indicated that only 1,000 of the planned 4,000 trucks had been delivered to the refinery, with Chinese logistical challenges disrupting supply timelines and slowing the rollout.

However, that number seems to have increased over the last few months.