• Africa’s richest businessman, Aliko Dangote, announced plans to build a new refinery in Tanzania similar to his Lagos mega refinery
• The refinery will be sited in Tanga, a coastal city with access to international shipping routes to serve as East and Central African energy hub
• Dangote revealed a strategic pivot toward supplying African markets rather than focusing on exports to the United States and South America

Africa’s richest industrialist, Aliko Dangote, has unveiled plans to construct a new oil refinery in Tanzania, modeled after his flagship 650,000 barrels-per-day facility in Lagos.

Dangote disclosed this on Thursday, April 23, during a panel session at the Africa Finance Corporation summit in Nairobi. He spoke alongside William Ruto and Yoweri Museveni, outlining his vision for expanding refining capacity across Africa.

The proposed refinery will be located in Tanga and is expected to process crude oil sourced from countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.

The project is designed to serve as a regional energy hub for East Africa.

Dangote revealed that discussions are ongoing with regional leaders to establish a shared refining facility that benefits multiple nations.

“We are discussing that we are going to have a joint refinery in Tanga to benefit all of us,” he said.

“My commitment today here is that we will lead the refinery. We’ll make sure that that refinery is built within the next four to five years.”

He further assured leaders of his readiness to replicate the scale of his Nigerian refinery in Tanzania.

“I can give commitment to the two presidents that were here, if they will support the refinery, we’ll build the identical one that we have in Nigeria,” Dangote said.

The announcement comes as the Lagos-based refinery continues to expand its footprint as a regional supplier of refined petroleum products.

In early April, Dangote revealed that the 650,000 bpd plant had exported about 17 cargoes of gasoline to several African countries.

Exports of urea fertiliser have also increased, driven by growing demand amid global energy supply disruptions linked to tensions in Iran.

“What I can do is assure Nigerians … and most of West Africa, Central Africa, and East Africa, we have the capacity to supply them,” he said at the time.

Dangote added that the refinery, which can produce up to 3 million metric tonnes of urea annually, is now prioritising shipments within Africa rather than exporting primarily to the United States and South America.

Meanwhile, the billionaire is pursuing an ambitious expansion of the Lagos refinery, targeting an increase in capacity from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day, a move that could position it as the largest refinery in the world.

To support this expansion, the African Export-Import Bank has underwritten $2.5 billion as part of a $4 billion syndicated loan.

Earlier in February, Dangote Group also signed a $400 million agreement with XCMG Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. to fast-track construction and expansion efforts.

Beyond fuel production, the expansion is expected to significantly boost polypropylene output from 900,000 metric tonnes annually to 2.4 million metric tonnes, reinforcing the refinery’s strategic role in Africa’s industrial value chain.

Dangote moves to list 10% of $20bn refinery across Africa in landmark Pan-African IPO

Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that the Dangote Group announced plans to sell a 10 per cent stake in its 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery through what could become one of the biggest cross-border share offerings in Africa.

Aliko Dangote said the Pan-African IPO would help support long-term investments and encourage wider participation in African capital markets.

According to Dangote, shareholders in Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE will receive dividends in dollars after the company is listed, although he did not reveal the full financial details of the planned share sale.