From LNG megaprojects to East African refineries, the Dangote Group is embarking on the most ambitious industrial expansion in African history
Dangote Group has unveiled a sweeping $45 billion investment programme spanning refinery expansion, liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure, and regional industrial projects — part of an ambitious strategy to raise annual group revenue to $100 billion and achieve $200 billion in revenues by 2030.
Group President Aliko Dangote disclosed the plans during an interview with Nicolai Tangen, Chief Executive Officer of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, stating that the company is entering a new growth phase driven by exports, refining and gas.
At the heart of the expansion is a plan to more than double the capacity of the existing Dangote Petroleum Refinery from its current level to 1.4 million barrels per day — a target Dangote said would be achieved within 30 months. The group is also developing a 12-million-tonne LNG project and building gas infrastructure to capture Nigeria’s flared gas from southern and eastern regions and transport it westward for LNG processing.
“We are more than doubling the refinery. In the next 30 months, we’ll be at 1.4 million, which is huge. We have now, as a group, $45 billion to spend,” Dangote said.
Beyond Nigeria, the group is exploring new refinery investments in East Africa — specifically Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya — following discussions with regional leaders including President William Ruto of Kenya and President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda. Dangote signalled plans to build a refinery identical in scale to his 650,000 barrels-per-day facility in Nigeria, saying: “If they will support the refinery, we’ll build the identical one that we have in Nigeria.”
On the financial side, Dangote said the group recorded approximately $3 billion in EBITDA in the previous year but is targeting more than $30 billion by 2030. Cement production is also set to grow to 100 million tonnes as part of the broader industrial push. He added that 80 per cent of group revenue is expected to be dollar-denominated, reducing foreign exchange risks and providing the basis for dollar-denominated dividends to investors.
Complementing the expansion, Dangote’s upstream oil subsidiary is currently producing approximately 4,500 barrels per day from the Kalaekule field on Oil Mining Lease (OML) 72 and has recently begun standard well testing from new upstream assets. Production is projected to rise to 15,000 barrels per day within weeks, according to the Chief Executive of West African Exploration and Production (WAEP), Dangote’s upstream joint venture.
Sources: allafrica.com | Premium Times