On the In Good Company podcast with Nicolai Tangen, the Nigerian billionaire discussed his journey from trading in Lagos to now owning Africa’s largest oil refinery, as well as his next big bet: replicating the success of his landmark refinery project outside of Nigeria.
He spoke about a subject that has been making headlines in recent weeks: the establishment of an oil refinery in East Africa.
According to the Nigerian business tycoon, some countries on the continent are shaken up by the recent geopolitical conflict in the Middle East, which has disrupted the global fuel supply chain.
This conflict has enhanced the rationale for improving the continent’s refining capacity and has propelled leaders in Africa to begin pushing for more energy independence.
-What Dangote said-
“There are a couple of countries that have said, with what has happened in the Middle East, we don’t want to rely on the supply from there, we need our own refinery,” Dangote stated.
He revealed that several East African nations are already in discussions over the project.
“So Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and some other countries like Rwanda, when we build the refinery, the same size (650,000 barrels per day), we will be able to serve up to Ethiopia.”
The proposed refinery is envisioned to operate on the same scale as the Dangote Refinery in Lagos, which currently stands as the largest single-train refinery globally and a landmark industrial achievement within Africa.
When Tangen asked Dangote directly whether the refinery would be built, he responded simply but confidently: “Yes.”
Dangote also revealed the financial scope of his objectives, stating how much his group plans to use in initiating the project as well as other energy plans, and how much revenue is expected in the coming years.
“As a group, we now have $45 billion to spend,” he stated, noting that the sum is also intended for an LNG in Nigeria.
“What we are trying to do now is to look at our income, what is our income stream, what is our revenue, and what is our EBITDA that we have between 2026 and 2030, what is the gap we have, and what is the insurance gap we need to fill,” he said.
“That’s why we are coming off with selling parts of the business, getting more investors into the business.
So we will be able to actually fund this $45 billion, which would eventually take us to $100 billion of revenue. Our target is to get $100 billion by 2030, and with a market valuation of $250 billion.
As we speak today, last year, our EBITDA was $3 billion, but the target by 2030 is to be 10 times that amount, at over $30 billion EBITDA,” he elaborated.
In April, Dangote revealed that it was planning to open up one of its most ambitious properties to investors, intending to sell approximately 10% of the Dangote Oil Refinery through a multi-exchange listing across Africa to acquire finance for a $40 billion growth plan over five years.
Key objectives for the fund include more than doubling its oil refinery’s capacity to 1.4 billion barrels per day, quadrupling fertilizer production, creating potash and phosphate plants in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and building copper-refining operations in Zambia.
Stay ahead with the latest updates! Join The ConclaveNG on WhatsApp and Telegram for real-time news alerts, breaking stories, and exclusive content delivered straight to your phone. Don’t miss a headline — subscribe now!
