Dangote says it raised $2.5 billion for refinery expansion

On 23 July 2026, Nigeria’s Dangote mega-refinery said it had secured $2.5 billion in investment from private investors to fund expansion plans, including a wider refining business in East Africa.

Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals said the private equity investment gives investors a stake in the 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery, which launched two years ago and is currently the largest in Africa.

Before this investment round, the Nigerian government-controlled oil corporation NNPCL was the only outside shareholder in the company, with a stake of about 7.2 percent.

The refinery company said the investment was believed to be the largest publicly disclosed private investment in Africa. Analysts said the private placement is a step before an initial public offering planned for later in the year, when investment in the refinery would be opened to the public.

Aliko Dangote, the company’s founder and Africa’s richest man, said the funds would help raise capital to support internal cash flows and external funding as the company advances its expansion plans.

Dangote plans to more than double the refining capacity of its Nigerian operations from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day. The company said that would make it the world’s largest refinery, surpassing India’s Jamnagar Refinery.

Dangote is also planning to build a 700,000-barrel-per-day East African oil refinery in Lamu on Kenya’s coast.

The Africa Finance Corporation said in an April report that Africa currently imports more than 70 percent of its refined fuel and about $230 billion worth of essential goods each year, including food, plastics, steel and fertiliser.

Dangote said the additional funds would support the company’s aim of reducing Africa’s reliance on imported refined products and strengthening the continent’s energy security.