Dangote targets $100bn empire with oil and fertilisers

Aliko Dangote is betting that Africa’s largest refinery, the continent’s biggest cement producer and his fertiliser businesses will expand his empire fivefold to $100 billion by the end of the decade.

The Dangote Group’s revenue is currently at about $20 billion, Fatima Dangote, group executive director for oil and gas, said in an interview in Lagos. The company forecasts the figure will jump to $80 billion in three years and to $100 billion by 2030, she said, giving financial details for the first time.

Dangote’s businesses have been boosted by the US war against Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which have caused fuel and fertiliser prices to soar. In large part because of that, his wealth has jumped 17% this year to a record high of $35 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Africa’s richest man is reshaping his empire while elevating the roles of his three daughters.

The planned expansion will require about $40 billion of investment, which Dangote plans to help finance through what could be Africa’s biggest initial public offering of his refinery business, the sale of a stake in his fertilizer unit and a London secondary listing of his cement company.

“What drives all of us is to see that we actually attain this vision 2030,” Fatima said. “The vision 2030 is not the end. It’s just the beginning.”

ADVERTISEMENT

CONTINUE READING BELOW

The expansion is taking place along with a generational shift. While Aliko Dangote remains chairman, his three daughters are increasingly overseeing key parts of the business. Fatima is a senior executive in the oil and gas division, Mariya is helping lead the cement company’s growth, and Halima oversees the family office from Dubai.

The refinery is key to the group’s strategy. The facility reached full production weeks before the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran on Feb. 28, underscoring the plants’s strategic value to buyers seeking to diversify fuel supplies away from the Middle East, and bolstering Dangote’s appeal to both investors in Africa and beyond.

The group is currently in the process of doubling the capacity of the 700,000-barrels-per-day facility by 2028. At the same time, it’s agreed to replicate its Lagos refinery in the coastal town of Lamu in Kenya. That plant is expected to cost $17 billion and will take about five years to build.

Dangote has two other listed businesses, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc and a salt company, NASCON Allied Industries Plc. The group also has a majority stake in Peugeot Automobile Nigeria, which assembles passenger vehicles. Other businesses include shipping, ports, power, mining and real estate.

Fertilizer is emerging as another important pillar. The group is expanding its Lagos plant to 6 million tons a year while building a facility in Ethiopia. The projects would lift total capacity to 12 million tons annually, cementing Dangote’s position among the world’s largest urea producers that capitalizes on Nigeria’s abundant natural gas.

ADVERTISEMENT:

CONTINUE READING BELOW

Meanwhile, the cement business has been the group’s cash cow. The group had earlier announced plans to invest $1 billion to increase capacity to 80 million tons a year by 2030. Dangote Cement Plc has total installed production capacity of 55 million tons a year across its 11 plants in 10 African countries.

Unlike previous expansions, Dangote’s biggest businesses are now moving into commercial production simultaneously, which will help Dangote fast-track his move toward his target.

To meet his goals, Dangote will require continued access to capital at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions, currency volatility across Africa and uncertainty over global energy markets. The group will also need to secure enough crude to support plans to double refining capacity, which can be a challenge that the group has had to deal with in the past.

To fund its next phase of growth, Dangote is courting investors from Africa, the Middle East and other international markets through equity sales and public listings.

“We are already an African giant and we attract a lot of investors both locally and internationally,” said Halima Dangote.

© 2026 Bloomberg

#Dangote #targets #100bn #empire #oil #fertilisers