Industrialist, Aliko Dangote, has increased his planned investment in a proposed fertiliser plant in Ethiopia to over $4 billion, significantly expanding the scale of one of Africa’s biggest industrial agriculture projects.

This was disclosed in a statement where Dangote disclosed this during his latest visit to Ethiopia. During that visit, he met with Abiy Ahmed and inspected the project site.

The fertiliser plant, first announced last year, was originally expected to attract about $2.5 billion in investment. However, the proposed project has now nearly doubled in size as Dangote Group broadens the scope of the facility and associated infrastructure.

According to the company, Dangote was welcomed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Gode, Ethiopia, after which they both visited the site of the proposed fertiliser plant to assess ongoing construction work.

The statement noted that the project expansion would now include major supporting infrastructure aimed at strengthening energy supply, logistics and downstream production capacity.

“Dangote announced an increase in investment from $2.5 billion to over $4 billion, reflecting expanded scope, including a 110km pipeline, a 120MW power plant, a polypropylene packaging facility and a two-million-tonne NPK blending plant,” the statement said.

Abiy Ahmed reportedly described the project as a strategic investment expected to strengthen Ethiopia’s agricultural sector, improve food security and reduce the country’s dependence on imported fertiliser products.

The Ethiopian leader also noted that construction activities on the site were progressing steadily and expressed optimism that the project would create jobs, support farmers and contribute significantly to economic growth once completed.

In August last year, Dangote signed a multibillion-dollar agreement with the Ethiopian government to establish a fertiliser plant capable of reshaping the country’s agriculture-driven economy. Under the agreement, Dangote Group would hold a 60 per cent stake in the project, while the remaining 40 per cent would belong to the state-owned Ethiopian Investment Holdings.

The fertiliser plant, located in Ethiopia’s eastern Somali region, is expected to produce roughly three million metric tonnes of urea annually. In March this year, as part of efforts to secure long-term energy supply for the Ethiopia fertiliser project, Dangote Industries Limited signed a $4.2 billion natural gas supply agreement with GCL Group. The deal guarantees a 25-year natural gas supply arrangement expected to power the fertiliser facility continuously once operational.

Dangote is rapidly expanding his industrial empire across Africa, pushing beyond Nigeria into large-scale energy, fertiliser and refining projects across the continent.

Just yesterday, Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni disclosed that he met with Dangote at Nakasero, over a proposed East African regional refinery.

The talks are linked to plans by Dangote to potentially build another major refinery in the region, similar to the 650,000 barrels-per-day Dangote Petroleum Refinery located on the outskirts of Lagos, currently regarded as Africa’s largest refinery.

Speaking via a statement on his X handle, Museveni said, “I informed him that from the very beginning, we have always opposed the export of raw materials without value addition. That is why Uganda delayed oil production because we insisted on first having a refinery. Without refining our oil, it would not make economic or strategic sense to simply export crude oil while others benefit from the finished products.

“I, therefore, welcomed the idea of a bigger regional refinery because our objective is African integration and shared prosperity. We cannot continue operating as fragmented and weak markets. If East Africa works together, such projects become more viable and beneficial to our people. Uganda is ready to support the regional refinery initiative while also continuing with the development of our own refinery in Hoima.”

Dangote is also pursuing a massive expansion of the Lagos refinery itself. The facility, which currently processes around 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, is expected to undergo a major scale-up that could increase refining capacity to approximately 1.4 million barrels per day, a development that could position it among the largest refining complexes globally.