Refinery Anchors Stabilize Resource Economies

Large, domestic downstream investments (e.g., Dangote Refinery in Nigeria) can act as structural anchors that break rent‑extraction cycles tied to raw exports, stabilize fuel prices, and support currency and inflation improvements in commodity exporters. Such single big industrial bets—if they succeed—change political coalitions by undercutting entrenched import‑refining interests and creating visible macro effects within a short, observable horizon. — If true, policymakers should treat strategic downstream industrial projects as a lever for macro stabilization and governance reform in resource economies, not merely as private investment.