David Bird Named CEO of Dangote’s Fuels and Petrochemicals Division
Dangote Group has appointed David Bird as Chief Executive Officer of its fuels and petrochemicals division as the Nigerian conglomerate pushes to expand its refining operations across Africa.
Bird, who officially assumed the role in July 2025, previously led Oman’s Duqm refinery and played a key part in overseeing its commissioning and test production phase in 2023. His appointment comes as Dangote’s $20 billion refinery complex in Lagos, which is the world’s largest single-train refinery with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, works to overcome technical challenges and scale up output after its commissioning in January 2024.
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man and founder of the group, remains chairman of the refining business while continuing as CEO of the wider Dangote Group, which has interests in cement, fertilizer, sugar, and other sectors. Bird stated in comments shared on LinkedIn and to S&P Global’s Platts that his focus will be on boosting operational efficiency, increasing refinery production, and extending the company’s reach beyond Nigeria to other African markets.
The Lagos refinery has already begun to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported fuels despite facing “unit upsets” and design-related setbacks that have delayed its ramp-up. According to S&P Global data, the Dangote facility was the country’s only operational refinery in July, exporting around 220,000 barrels per day of refined products, mainly jet fuel and gasoil, while state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Company refineries remained offline.
In response to inconsistent local crude supply, the refinery has also started processing a wider mix of crude grades beyond Nigerian crude, which aligns with Bird’s experience in managing diverse feedstocks during his time at OQ8. However, the refinery’s flexibility is partly limited by a naira-based crude supply agreement with NNPC, which owns a 7.2 percent stake and requires the Dangote plant to supply fixed volumes of refined products to the domestic market.
Looking to the future, Dangote Group plans to expand the refinery’s capacity to 700,000 barrels per day, invest in new port facilities, and build foreign storage hubs in countries like Namibia to strengthen export capabilities. Starting in August, the group is also set to deploy its own distribution network using 4,000 compressed natural gas-powered trucks to improve delivery efficiency and reduce reliance on third-party transporters.
Executives have reiterated plans to list the refining business on both the Lagos and London stock exchanges to attract international investment and enhance transparency. Industry analysts say Bird’s track record at Duqm could help stabilize operations and support Dangote’s ambition of becoming a leading refining force across Africa, although challenges remain in resolving technical bottlenecks and navigating local regulatory pressures.
