Dangote Group, Africa’s largest multi-faceted conglomerate, says it expects its oil refinery, currently under construction in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, to come on stream by mid 2018. This was revealed by group’s Operations Director for petroleum refining, George Nicolaides, who was speaking at the Platts African Refining Summit in Cape Town, South Africa.

According to him, detailed engineering work is set to kick-off in earnest. The facility, situated in the Lekki Free Trade Zone, will process about 500,000 barrels of crude daily. The refining and petrochemical plants will be the largest in Africa.

Products expected to be delivered from this facility include gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, LPG, and fuel oil.

Owned by Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, the $9 billion refinery is partly funded by a $3.3 billion loan facility. The securement of the loan was announced in September 2013. It remains the single largest loan facility delivered to an individual by a group of Nigerian banks.