Billionaire Aliko Dangote plans a $3.5 billion, 2,650-kilometer petroleum pipeline to supply Southern African nations and alleviate energy distribution issues in the region.
Speaking during an interview in Qatar, Dangote revealed his firm is developing the 2,650-kilometer pipeline connecting Namibia, Botswana and South Africa, alongside associated tank farms and storage facilities.
“By the time we finish, I am sure we’ll end up with almost 4,000 kilometers of pipelines,” Dangote said, noting that the budget for the southern African corridor alone exceeds $3.5 billion.
The line forms the core of the broader 4,000-kilometer cross-border network designed to move refined fuels into landlocked economies across Sub-Saharan Africa, shifting fuel distribution away from costly, logistically complex road transport.
The economic case for the pipeline network rests on stark price distortions currently facing consumers in landlocked markets.
Retail gasoline prices in Zimbabwe are nearing $6 per gallon due to high trucking costs and border delays. A new pipeline infrastructure aims to alleviate this by connecting coastal refining directly to inland markets.
Beyond regional land transport, the company is also preparing to launch a 600-kilometer offshore gas-gathering pipeline in Nigeria to feed its industrial complex in Lagos.
Devakumar Edwin, Dangote Industries’ group vice president for oil, gas and fertilizer, confirmed that engineering designs for the subsea pipeline are complete, with construction expected to start shortly.
The offshore line will allow stranded gas producers to tap directly into shore-based processing facilities.
“When we strike a gas well, if it is full of gas, we just cap the well and sit on it,” Edwin said during a facility tour in Lagos, emphasizing that the new network will address Nigeria’s critical infrastructure deficit.
In East Africa, the group is launching the Djibouti-to-Ethiopia pipeline route alongside strategic fuel storage tank farms, with construction scheduled to begin within two months.
A conduit will link Lamu, Kenya, to inland markets in the Horn of Africa. Dangote Industries is negotiating with the Kenyan government to build an 800-kilometer oil pipeline from Turkana to Lamu, enhancing its cross-border energy infrastructure.
The pipeline initiatives anchor the conglomerate’s Vision 2030 strategy, which includes expanding Lagos refinery capacity from 700,000 to 1.4 million barrels per day within three years and scaling fertilizer output fourfold to 12 million tonnes annually.
Capital deployment across the group’s industrial operations will total between $46 billion and $50 billion over the coming period, with the allocation strategy prioritizing internal refining and pipeline transport to eliminate long-haul imports of processed petroleum products.
To help finance its regional expansion and shore up capital, Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals is currently seeking to raise approximately 2.15 trillion naira, or $1.62 billion, through an initial public offering.
The share sale for the refining division aims to attract 10 million individual African retail investors, following a private placement tranche that drew $3.7 billion in total demand.
The company plans a primary listing on the Nigerian Exchange, followed by a dual listing in New York by 2030.
Dangote Industries is a key player in transforming fuel distribution across Africa, addressing transport bottlenecks that have historically raised consumer prices and limited industrial growth in landlocked economies.
The conglomerate’s ability to execute construction across three regional corridors and fund it through capital markets will determine how quickly price relief reaches consumers in Zimbabwe, Botswana and inland Ethiopia.
