Billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola, has said the naira could trade below ₦1,000 to the US dollar before the end of 2026, following the Dangote Petroleum Refinery reaching its full production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.

Otedola projected in a post on X on Thursday while congratulating the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, on the milestone.

The naira, which has strengthened in recent weeks, was trading at about ₦1,354 to the dollar at the official foreign exchange market on Thursday and between ₦1,430 and ₦1,440 on the parallel market, according to market sources.

Otedola described the refinery’s full capacity as transformational for Nigeria and Africa, noting that its ability to supply up to 75 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit daily would significantly alter the country’s energy outlook and help conserve foreign exchange.

“With domestic refining now firmly underway after decades of reliance on imports, pressure on the foreign exchange market should ease significantly,” he said.

“I am optimistic that the naira will strengthen meaningfully, and trading below ₦1,000/$1 before year-end is increasingly within reach,” he added.

Beyond the current output, Otedola disclosed that Dangote has embarked on an additional $12 billion expansion to increase refining capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day. The expansion also includes plans to produce 2.4 million tonnes of polypropylene and 400,000 metric tonnes of linear alkyl benzene.

He noted that work on the expansion had already commenced.

The refinery’s capacity milestone comes amid ongoing efforts to stabilise Nigeria’s foreign exchange market, with the Central Bank of Nigeria introducing measures aimed at improving liquidity and narrowing the gap between the official and parallel market rates.