Dangote’s $7bn bet: AFC funds plan to build world’s biggest fertiliser platform

The Africa Finance Cooperation (AFC) has thrown its financial weight behind Aliko Dangote’s ambitious plan to construct the world’s largest fertiliser production platform.

With a commitment of $600m to Greenview Fertiliser Corp., Dangote’s fertiliser holding company, the infrastructure financier is supporting a $7bn expansion drive designed to triple Nigeria’s urea output and establish a major new manufacturing foothold in Ethiopia.

The agreement, signed in Lagos last Friday between Dangote Industries Limited and AFC, marks the latest chapter in a strategic partnership.

It comes shortly after AFC received full repayment of a $300m loan that helped jumpstart the now-operational Dangote refinery — a project where the corporation also acted as co-coordinator for a $3bn syndicated facility, according to a statement on Monday.

Expansion amid Iran war fallout

Africa’s richest man is pushing ahead with its fertiliser expansion project amid the recent global supply chain disruptions caused by the Iran war that has sent inflation soaring across the continent.

The expansion will see the group’s urea fertiliser production capacity in Nigeria surge from 3 million metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 9 MTPA by 2030. Coupled with a new 3 MTPA plant in Gode, Ethiopia — a $2.5bn joint venture signed with Ethiopian Investment Holdings — the conglomerate’s total output will hit a 12 MTPA.

Dangote launched the Lagos fertiliser plant, Africa’s largest, in March 2022, weeks after the Russia-Ukraine war upended food supply chains and sent input prices soaring.

The billionaire said in December that he planned to invest an additional $7bn to become the world’s biggest urea producer as part of an ambition to reach $100bn in revenue by 2030.

“Expanding our fertiliser production capacity in Nigeria and developing a new plant in Ethiopia will strengthen Africa’s food security, support agricultural productivity, and deepen the continent’s industrial base,” Dangote, president and CEO of Dangote Industries Limited, said.

Feeding 2.5 billion people

For AFC President and CEO Samaila Zubairu, the investment addresses a key question: ‘How will we feed 2.5 billion people by 2050?’

“Africa’s 1.5 billion people consume just 6 million tonnes of urea annually, compared to 40 million tonnes in India and 50 million tonnes in China, despite having similar-sized populations,” he said.

Closing this productivity gap is essential to Africa’s food security, according to him.

“By supporting the development of the world’s largest fertiliser platform, AFC is helping build the foundation for Africa to feed itself,” Zubairu said.

AFC notes that the continent, home to a quarter of the world’s uncultivated arable land and vast natural gas reserves, remains heavily dependent on imported fertiliser.

For the corporation, the fresh investment aligns with its mandate to strengthen the systems underpinning long-term economic growth: energy, transport, logistics, industrial processing, and food security.

Dangote eyes $4bn annual exports

Dangote projects the expansion will generate over $4bn annually in export earnings within three years, contributing significantly to Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves.

“When we say that we want to grow our group to $100bn by 2030, it doesn’t mean that we want to grow alone, we want to grow together,” the billionaire said in a separate statement by his conglomerate.

Research firm Mordor Intelligence valued the African fertiliser market at $54.77bn in 2025, forecasting growth to $77.84bn by 2030.

“Steady policy alignment across the continent and domestic capacity expansions support this advance as governments prioritise input self-sufficiency and food security,” the statement said, while cautioning that logistics gaps and global price volatility remain challenges. (The Africa Report)