Dangote targets 20,000MW power expansion in push into energy sector

Africa’s richest businessman, Aliko Dangote, has unveiled plans to expand into the power sector with a target of generating up to 20,000 megawatts (MW), marking one of the most ambitious private-sector energy projects on the continent.

Dangote disclosed the plan during a meeting with the Managing Director of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Maktar Diop, where he outlined the next phase of growth for the Dangote Group and its broader vision for Africa’s industrial transformation.

According to him, the move into power generation is aimed at tackling one of Africa’s biggest development challenges, inadequate electricity supply, which continues to limit industrialisation, manufacturing growth, and economic competitiveness across the continent.

The industrialist explained that the planned power capacity would complement the group’s existing investments, including its refinery, fertiliser plants, mining operations, and ongoing infrastructure projects, helping to build what he described as an integrated industrial ecosystem.

“We are now going into power, 20,000 megawatts. We are building the biggest deep-sea port with a depth of 18 meters. We are doing LNG,” Dangote said during the engagement.

Although he did not disclose where the proposed power plants would be located or provide a timeline for delivery, the announcement signals a major expansion of the conglomerate’s footprint beyond manufacturing and refining into large-scale energy generation.

Dangote noted that the group’s recently completed refinery project, which currently processes about 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, has strengthened the company’s financial position and boosted confidence to pursue more capital-intensive ventures.

He argued that Africa’s development would remain constrained without significant investments in infrastructure, especially electricity, transportation, and logistics.

Beyond power generation, Dangote criticised structural barriers affecting trade across Africa, including visa restrictions, border bottlenecks, and high transportation costs. According to him, these challenges continue to frustrate efforts toward regional integration and intra-African commerce.

“When you look at Africa today, somebody like myself, I need 38 visas to move around,” he said, adding that moving goods across neighbouring African countries remains unnecessarily difficult and expensive.

He also revealed that the group is investing in fertiliser production, mining of potash and phosphate in Congo Brazzaville, liquefied natural gas projects, and the construction of a deep-sea port to strengthen regional industrial capacity and reduce import dependence.

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Dangote further disclosed plans to list some of the group’s major assets, including the refinery, on the stock market to allow more Africans to participate in ownership and wealth creation. According to him, dividends from those investments would be paid in dollars, with investors allowed to receive payments in local currencies if preferred.

The businessman maintained that African investors must lead the continent’s economic transformation by committing local capital to strategic industries, rather than waiting for foreign investors to drive development.

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