The Dangote Group has unveiled plans to more than double the production capacity of its flagship fertilizer plant as part of a larger regional strategy aimed at meeting Africa’s growing agricultural demands and expanding its export footprint.
Speaking at an event in Abuja on Thursday, the Chief Strategy Officer of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliyu Suleiman, disclosed that the group will not only scale up fertilizer production but also diversify its investments across various segments of the fertilizer value chain.
“There’s a plan to more than double the fertilizer production capacity and to also invest in other areas of fertilizer, so that all the fertilizer needs of Nigeria and other African countries can be met by the group,” Suleiman said, according to Bloomberg.
Currently valued at $2.5 billion, the plant stands as Africa’s largest granulated urea fertilizer complex, with an annual capacity of 3 million metric tons. The expansion is poised to significantly bolster food production and regional agricultural resilience.
In addition to its fertilizer ambitions, Dangote is also pushing forward with strategic upgrades to its $19 billion oil refinery. The 650,000 barrel-per-day facility commissioned in May 2023, has already begun reshaping Nigeria’s energy landscape. Suleiman noted that since it began operations in January last year, the refinery has contributed to a reduction in petroleum product prices by at least $50 per ton, while also reclaiming market share from global refineries and shipping lines.
“Share has been taken by the refinery from refineries across the world, from shipping lines across the world, and a lot of that value is now accruing to Nigeria,” he added.
As part of its forward-looking strategy, the group is also exploring public listings for its major assets. Dangote Group President, Aliko Dangote, recently announced plans to list the urea fertilizer plant before the end of 2025, and the crude oil refinery by 2026.
The refinery is also on course to switch entirely to Nigerian crude by the end of 2025, a shift that would potentially eliminate the importation of hundreds of thousands of barrels of foreign crude daily. According to Devakumar Edwin, Vice President at Dangote Industries, the transition is already in motion.
“We expect some of the long-term contracts will expire. Personally, and as a company, we expect that before the end of the year we can transition 100% to local crude,” Edwin said in an interview at the Lagos-based site.
Dangote has consistently championed the refinery as a transformative project, designed to end Nigeria’s reliance on imported petroleum products, an inefficient system long plagued by corruption and economic losses.
The refinery’s phased ramp-up has already made Nigeria a net exporter of petroleum products, though the initial stages relied heavily on imported crude due to limited domestic supply. Still, with increased access to Nigerian crude, the refinery is steadily moving toward full capacity.
During a recent visit to the facility, President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, hailed the refinery as a “beacon of hope” for Africa’s industrial future and a compelling example of private sector leadership in regional transformation.
