Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote signed a multi-sector investment deal worth over $1 billion with Zimbabwe on Wednesday, marking Africa’s richest man’s renewed push into the southern African nation nearly a decade after a similar plan failed.
Dangote, whose net worth Bloomberg estimates at $30.6 billion, met President Emmerson Mnangagwa at State House in Harare to finalize agreements covering cement manufacturing, power generation and petroleum products.
“We have just signed an agreement between Zimbabwe and the Dangote Group to undertake various investments across several sectors,” Dangote told reporters after the signing ceremony.
The deal includes plans to transport petroleum products from Namibia’s Walvis Bay port and pipe them into southern Africa, Dangote said. His Dangote Petroleum Refinery operates the world’s largest single-train refinery in Nigeria with capacity to process 650,000 barrels per day.
“It’s a broad investment portfolio — really in the hundreds of millions, maybe even up to $1 billion. But it will definitely exceed that figure because of the pipeline,” Dangote said.
In July, Reuters reported that Dangote Petroleum Refinery planned to build storage tanks in Namibia with capacity of at least 1.6 million barrels of gasoline and diesel to supply refined fuel to southern Africa.
The investment marks Dangote’s second attempt to establish operations in Zimbabwe. He visited the country in 2015 to explore similar opportunities, but those plans did not materialize.
Dangote said Zimbabwe’s business environment had improved significantly since his previous visit.
“There’s quite a bit of change between that time when we came and now. The government is solid,” he said.
The Dangote Group operates in 17 African countries with interests spanning cement, sugar, fertilizer, oil and gas. The company’s cement division is the largest producer in sub-Saharan Africa.
Zimbabwe has struggled to attract major foreign investment in recent years due to concerns over policy consistency and economic stability. The government has promoted a “Zimbabwe is Open for Business” initiative to draw international capital.
Presidential investment adviser Paul Tungwarara coordinated talks between Dangote and the government, according to local facilitators involved in the negotiations. Harare-based Bard Santner Markets Inc and business adviser Josephine Mahachi helped broker the discussions.
The investment could create thousands of jobs and help address Zimbabwe’s infrastructure and energy deficits, according to government sources familiar with the proposal.
Dangote’s refinery in Lagos began operations in 2023 and aims to meet Nigeria’s domestic fuel demand while exporting surplus production to regional markets.
