Africa’s biggest oil refinery has begun production in Nigeria, the company has said, ending a yearlong wait for a plant that analysts said Monday could boost refining capacity in a region heavily reliant on imported petroleum products, according to AP.

The $19 billion facility, which has a capacity to produce 650,000 barrels per day, has started to produce diesel and aviation fuel, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery company reported Saturday. As Nigeria’s first privately owned oil refinery, the project “is a game-changer for our country,” it added.

Nigeria is one of Africa’s top oil producers but imports refined petroleum products for its own use. The nation’s oil and natural gas sector has struggled for many years, and most of its state-run refineries operate far below capacity because of the poor maintenance.

The Dangote refinery is “not a silver bullet” for Nigeria’s energy crisis, according to Olufola Wusu, an oil and gas expert who was part of a team that helped review Nigeria’s national gas policy. “But it is a great way to revive the sector … and will help move Nigeria from being a major importer of refined petroleum products to being self-reliant in domestic refining capacit