Dangote Unveils Up to $50bn Expansion Plan, Urges African Industrialisation at UNGA

President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has unveiled plans to invest between $46 billion and $50 billion in major projects under the group’s Vision 2030 strategy, while urging African governments, businesses and investors to accelerate the continent’s industrialisation.

Speaking at the Global Africa Business Initiative’s Unstoppable Africa 2026 gathering in New York, held on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly, Dangote said Africa must invest more of its capital at home, process its natural resources locally and build industries at a scale capable of creating jobs and sustainable prosperity.

He said the continent’s next phase of development should be defined not by the abundance of its resources but by its ability to transform those resources into products, businesses and wealth.

“For years, we have continued to talk about our potential, our resources, our markets and our opportunities, but now we must move beyond talking about potential to building the industries and systems that will turn that potential into real economic development,” Dangote said.

He cited the 700,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Nigeria as evidence that African enterprises could execute complex industrial projects when ambition was matched by investment and effective implementation.

According to him, the refinery is larger than any previous single-train facility built by major international companies, whose biggest comparable projects were about 450,000 barrels per day.

“The refinery we’re talking about has never been built before in the world—not in Africa—by anybody,” he said.

Dangote drew parallels with Asia’s economic transformation, arguing that businesses and investors in the region helped drive development by committing capital to their domestic economies.

“The Asians believed in their own economy. So they are the ones that made their own economy,” he said.

By contrast, he said, African capital was too often transferred offshore, strengthening foreign financial institutions instead of supporting domestic banks and productive enterprises.

“We are doing it in reverse, where we take our own money to their banks, strengthen their banks, and we don’t really keep our money on our own continent,” he said.

Dangote also called for broader African ownership of major industrial assets, pointing to plans to list Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals on the Nigerian Exchange.

He said the listing would allow Africans, including smaller retail investors, to participate in the ownership of one of the continent’s largest industrial projects and help ensure that the value it creates remains anchored in Africa.

“We must list it on the shores of Africa to make it an African company,” he said. “We are listing it in Nigeria because we want Africans to have the opportunity to participate in the ownership of this major African industrial asset.”

Dangote said investor interest had been substantial, extending beyond Nigeria, and that the group would continue working to broaden participation as more shares became available.

Under Vision 2030, the conglomerate plans to invest between $46 billion and $50 billion across several major projects. A central part of the programme is the proposed doubling of the Nigerian refinery’s capacity from 700,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day, alongside significant expansion in petrochemicals and other industrial operations.

The group is also planning a $16 billion project in Lamu, Kenya, as part of its wider African expansion.

“We’re launching that project on the 30th of this month and spending $16 billion on it. It will be ready within the next three years,” Dangote said.

The Lamu investment is intended to increase industrial capacity, reduce dependence on imported finished products and serve growing regional demand.

Dangote said global investors were increasingly interested in Africa but were seeking credible sponsors and projects large enough to produce transformational results.

“A lot of people want to invest in Africa, but they are looking for scale and also who is doing that investment,” he said.

He added that the appetite for investment already existed, but many investors required clearer and more credible channels through which to deploy capital.

“They are ready. People are ready. They are willing. They want to invest money in the continent, but they don’t know how and where,” he said.

Reflecting on the development of the Nigerian refinery, Dangote described it as the most challenging undertaking of his life. Its completion, he said, showed that African entrepreneurs could overcome formidable barriers and execute projects once considered beyond the continent’s capabilities.

He urged African businesses and investors to commit more capital to the continent, pursue ambitious ventures and reject limitations on the scale of projects they could undertake.

“We have escaped the bar,” Dangote said. “They’ve set up a bar for us not to go across, but we have escaped. We’re on the other side now.”