Yemisi Izuora
Dangote group is launching a key export facility that will aggrandize its fertilizer export and petrochemical operations business.
This will help facilitate export of its expanding fertilizer expansion project in Lagos.
Dangote, said he plans to build a major seaport near his fertilizer and oil refinery plants, a move aimed at easing exports and powering the continued expansion of his vast industrial empire.
Dangote confirmed that his firm had submitted paperwork in late June to begin work on what he described as “the biggest, deepest port in Nigeria.”
The proposed Atlantic seaport will be located in Olokola, Ogun State, about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from his massive fertilizer and petrochemical facilities in Lagos, according to Bloomberg.
Currently, Dangote exports fertilizer and urea through a private jetty he built near the refinery site, the same jetty that also receives the heavy equipment needed for operations.
Dangote group had earlier set out plans to expand its $2.5 billion fertiliser plant located in Lagos, which will make Africa self-sufficient in fertiliser supplies and significantly reduce import costs.
Aliko Dangote said, the planned production capacity will boost supply needs of the continent in the next 40 months.
If the plan is successfully completed Africa will end or curtail current imports over 6 million metric tons of fertiliser annually as it struggles to produce enough food in often challenging growing conditions.
Dangote, notes that the benefits of increasing domestic production would include reduced foreign exchange expenditure, which has been a major economic burden in Nigeria because of the weakness of the local currency.
“In the next 40 months, Africa will not import fertiliser from anywhere. We have a very aggressive trajectory right now. We want to put Dangote to be the highest producer of urea, bigger and higher than Qatar – give me 40 months,” Dangote said at the annual Afreximbank meeting in Abuja.
Dangote runs Africa’s largest granulated urea complex, which has annual capacity of 3 million tons, 37 per cent of which it exports to the United States. It will need to double current output to achieve his ambition. Dangote has said he is not worried about the impact of Trump tariffs.
Analysts say the market outlook for fertiliser is bullish, but there are also challenges and the kind of expansion Dangote seeks requires infrastructure to be built.
“Any new fertiliser plant or expansion project faces cost overrun risks to the producer,” Seth Goldstein, senior equity analyst at Morningstar Research, said.
Mikolah Judson, an analyst at global risk consultancy, Control Risk, cited the need for “transport infrastructure and port capacity,” saying “bottlenecks routinely delay various import and export projects in Nigeria”.
Dangote has a track record for delivering big projects. He also owns the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Africa’s largest, although its launch was repeatedly delayed and it exceeded its initial budget.
He has said he intends to list the 650,000 barrels-per-day refinery next year and he also confirmed plans to list his fertiliser plant on the local stock exchange this year.
The new port will help integrate logistics and export activities across the group. It could rival key facilities in Lagos, including the Chinese-backed Lekki Deep Sea Port, which opened in 2023.
“It’s not that we want to do everything by ourselves,” Dangote said, “but I believe this kind of investment will inspire other entrepreneurs to get involved too.”
Beyond fertilizer exports, Dangote also plans to ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Lagos. This project will require the construction of pipelines from the Niger Delta, according to Devakumar Edwin, vice president of the Dangote Group.
“We want to do a major project to bring in more gas than what NLNG is doing today,” said Aliko Dangote, referencing Nigeria LNG Ltd., the country’s leading liquefied natural gas exporter and a joint venture between the Nigerian government, Shell Plc, Eni SpA, and TotalEnergies SE. “We know where there is a lot of gas, so we’ll run a pipeline all the way and bring it to the shore.”
Dangote already taps into Nigeria’s gas-rich Niger Delta to power his massive fertilizer plant, where natural gas is used as feedstock to produce hydrogen for ammonia, a key ingredient in fertilizer production.
Guided by bold thinking and long-term planning, the billionaire industrialist believes Africa could be transformed into a “heaven” within just five years.
Earlier this year, the billionaire industrialist said his conglomerate is on track to generate $30 billion in total revenue by next year, even as global businesses express concerns about the potential impact of trade tariffs under U.S. President Donald Trump.
He added that the group also aims to surpass Qatar and become the world’s largest exporter of urea within the next four years.