A major boost has come for Africa’s industrial and agricultural ambitions as the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) commits $600 million to support Dangote Group’s fertiliser expansion programme across Nigeria and Ethiopia—an investment that could significantly reshape the continent’s role in the global fertiliser supply chain.
The funding, channelled through Greenview Fertiliser Corporation, forms part of Dangote Group’s broader $7 billion expansion strategy and is regarded as one of the largest recent financial commitments to fertiliser production in Africa.
According to AFC, the investment will drive capacity expansion at the existing Dangote Fertiliser Plant in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, while also supporting the development of a new large-scale fertiliser complex in Ethiopia.
In Nigeria, production capacity is expected to rise sharply from 3 million metric tonnes of urea annually to 9 million tonnes, effectively tripling output at the Lagos facility. The Ethiopian project is projected to contribute an additional 3 million tonnes annually, creating a combined 12 million-tonne production base across both West and East Africa.
For Dangote Group, the expansion represents a continuation of a long-term industrial vision aimed at reducing Africa’s dependence on imported fertiliser while positioning the company as a dominant global producer.
Aliko Dangote has previously expressed ambitions of making Africa self-sufficient in fertiliser production and overtaking global competitors in output. In earlier remarks, he said the latest investment could significantly boost Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings through exports.
“What he’s actually given us this money for is a company where by the next three years we’ll be able to have an export of over $4 billion worth of urea fertilizer,” he said.
“I think it is a big contribution to the foreign exchange income of the country.”
The fertiliser sector has become a key pillar of Dangote Group’s industrial portfolio, complementing its large-scale refinery operations. Since beginning commercial production in 2022, the Lagos plant has supplied local agricultural demand while also exporting to markets in Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
The significance of the expansion extends beyond corporate growth, particularly for Nigeria’s broader economic strategy. For decades, the country has depended heavily on crude oil exports for foreign exchange, prompting renewed efforts to diversify into non-oil revenue streams.
A fertiliser export industry generating an estimated $4 billion annually would position the sector among Nigeria’s leading sources of foreign exchange earnings outside oil.
Across the continent, the project also addresses a structural weakness in African agriculture: heavy reliance on imported fertiliser. This dependence has often exposed farmers to volatile global prices and supply disruptions.
Those vulnerabilities became more pronounced following the Russia–Ukraine conflict, which disrupted global supply chains and triggered sharp increases in fertiliser prices, raising food production costs across multiple African economies.
A stronger domestic production base, analysts note, could help stabilise supply, improve affordability for farmers, and strengthen food security across the region.
The Ethiopian expansion adds another layer of strategic importance, giving Dangote Group a second major production hub outside Nigeria and deepening its industrial footprint in East Africa. The project has already seen upward revisions, with investment estimates rising from $2.5 billion to over $4 billion, reflecting its scale and ambition.
AFC President and Chief Executive Officer Samaila Zubairu said the deal reflects the institution’s approach of recycling capital into high-impact African industrial projects capable of delivering long-term development outcomes.
He noted that AFC had previously invested in Dangote Industries Limited and fully recovered its capital before reinvesting—this time at a larger scale—into the fertiliser expansion programme.
If completed as planned, the Nigeria and Ethiopia projects would rank among the largest fertiliser production platforms globally, potentially reshaping Africa’s agricultural input landscape while boosting export capacity, industrial development, and food security across the continent.