Key facts
- Dangote said the project is expected to cost $2.5 billion and includes a fuel depot outside Walvis Bay.
- Dangote said a 1,700-kilometer pipeline would bring fuels to Botswana and South Africa, and potentially other countries.
- Dangote said the aim is for most landlocked countries to access petroleum products at a cheaper price.
- Dangote Group plans to expand fuel distribution networks in Africa after its 700,000-bpd refinery began operations two years ago.
- Dangote plans another refinery in Kenya to serve eastern African markets, according to the report.
- The Dangote Petroleum Refinery minority-stake IPO closed the week before November 4, with investors from 120 countries applying.
Aliko Dangote, whose Dangote Group operates the biggest refinery on the continent, broke ground on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, for a planned fuel storage site in Namibia that is intended to serve as a distribution hub for southern Africa.
"We want to heavily invest so that most of the landlocked countries will be able to access petroleum products at a cheaper price," Dangote said at the groundbreaking event, as carried by Bloomberg. The project, expected to cost $2.5 billion, includes a fuel depot outside the main port of Walvis Bay and a 1,700-kilometer (1,056-mile) pipeline to bring fuels to Botswana and South Africa, and potentially to other countries.
Dangote said the storage and pipeline project is expected to "strengthen Namibia's energy security and advance regional trade and industrial development across southern Africa." The Nigerian refinery plans to ship growing volumes of fuel to African countries that depend on imports and are concerned about supplies and energy security following the Iran war and the disruption of fuel exports from the Middle East.
Earlier in 2026, Dangote said he would help finance a new fuel pipeline between Ethiopia and Djibouti, expected to cost about $660 million. That project would connect the port of Damerjog in Djibouti to a distribution facility in Dewele, Ethiopia, plus a storage hub. Dangote Group plans to expand fuel distribution networks in Africa after its 700,000-bpd refinery began operations two years ago, and Dangote plans another refinery in Kenya to serve eastern African markets.
The initial public offering of a minority stake in Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Nigeria closed the week before November 4, with investors from 120 countries, including all 54 African countries, applying to buy shares. The IPO could raise as much as $2.1 billion if the company exercises its greenshoe option, which the report described as almost a given considering interest in the float. Proceeds are expected to be invested in a $14 billion plan to double the refinery's crude processing capacity from nearly 700,000 bpd to 1.4 million bpd by 2029.