Dangote plans $50 billion capex, twice its 2020–2025 spend

Dangote Group plans to spend about $50 billion in capital expenditure (capex) between 2026 and 2030, doubling the $25 billion it invested during the previous five-year period.

Aliyu Suleiman, Group Chief Strategy Officer of Dangote Industries Limited, disclosed this during a briefing on Friday when Kenyan President William Ruto visited the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos.

The investment forms part of the group’s Vision 2030 strategy to expand its industrial footprint across Africa and grow into a $100 billion company.

Dangote targets $50 billion CapEx by 2030

Dangote Group concluded its previous five-year capex programme at the end of 2025 after investing about $25 billion in projects including the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Dangote Fertiliser plant and several cement production facilities.

The group has now reviewed its next phase of growth and plans to significantly increase investment rather than slow its expansion.

Suleiman said the group is targeting about $50 billion in capex between 2026 and 2030, representing twice the amount invested during the previous five-year period.

• “So what we came up with at the time is that we need to be large, we are large, but we need to be larger than what we are at the moment, with a target to be a $100 billion dollar company. To get there, we will spend capex of about $50 billion over the next five years,” he said.
• The new investment programme is aimed at supporting Dangote Group’s ambition to lead Africa’s industrialisation by building large-scale businesses and expanding them across the continent. The group is considering opportunities in port infrastructure, gas infrastructure, LNG, upstream oil and gas, power and mining.

Suleiman said Dangote has also identified opportunities that could exceed its $100 billion target, while the planned East Africa refinery in Kenya is a major component of the expansion strategy.

Dangote expands across Africa

Dangote Group said it has assessed how it will finance the planned investment programme, including forecasts for revenues, earnings, profits and cash flows expected from the projects.

The group said it has financing arrangements for the equity component, while commitments have also been received from financiers for the debt component.

• “We have the financing that will be able to finance the equity part of all the investments. Similarly, in terms of debt component, we’ve got commitments from various financiers, one of which is here in the room with us, to make the financing available to support this group,” he said.
• The group said revenue reached about $17 billion in the first half of 2026 and that it is on track to reach $36 billion for the full year, compared with $18 billion recorded in 2025. Suleiman attributed the growth to the group’s expansion across cement, sugar, fertiliser, refining, upstream oil production and other businesses.

Dangote is also preparing to develop a 700,000-barrels-per-day greenfield refinery and petrochemical plant in Lamu, Kenya. The project has been estimated at about $17 billion and was previously projected to take about five years to complete.

The Kenyan government has finalised preparations for the September 30, 2026 launch of the East Africa Oil Refinery project in Lamu, with President William Ruto expected to lead the groundbreaking ceremony.

Dangote Group has also signed a deal worth more than $450 million with Engineers India Ltd. to oversee project management and engineering, procurement and construction management services for the facility.

Dangote Refinery expansion targets 1.4 million bpd

Dangote Group is also expanding its petroleum refining operations in Nigeria, with plans to increase the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s crude-processing capacity from 700,000 barrels per day to about 1.4 million barrels per day. The expansion involves adding another 750,000-barrels-per-day crude oil distillation unit.

• The group has said the expansion is expected to be completed by 2028, while the refinery has separately indicated a broader target of reaching 1.4 million barrels per day by 2029.
• Nigeria’s seaborne refined petroleum exports to Europe averaged 130,000 barrels per day in the second quarter of 2026, up from 15,000 barrels per day in 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which cited Vortexa shipping data.

The increase has coincided with the expansion of Dangote Refinery’s operations, with the facility exporting refined products to markets across Africa and Europe. The developments form part of Dangote Group’s broader strategy of developing businesses in Nigeria and subsequently scaling its expansion into other African markets.