Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has unveiled plans for a 20,000-megawatt power project, in a move that could reshape Nigeria’s electricity market and deepen competition among the country’s leading private energy investors.
Dangote disclosed the plan during an interview with Makhtar Diop, released this week by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), as he outlined a broader strategy to expand his industrial empire beyond cement, fertiliser, petrochemicals and refining.
“We are now going into power, 20,000 megawatts,” Dangote said during the interview, underscoring what he described as Africa’s urgent need for reliable energy infrastructure.
The proposed project, if delivered, would dwarf Nigeria’s current average electricity output and mark one of the largest private-sector energy investments ever announced in Africa’s most populous nation.
Nigeria’s installed generation capacity stands at roughly 13,000MW, but actual daily supply to homes and businesses remains significantly lower because of transmission constraints, gas shortages, weak infrastructure and frequent grid collapses. The country continues to rely heavily on diesel and petrol generators to bridge supply gaps that have hampered industrial growth for decades.
Analysts say a 20,000MW project could transform Nigeria’s energy landscape by improving electricity access, lowering production costs for manufacturers and supporting broader economic expansion.
Dangote, however, did not disclose the financing structure, timeline, technology mix or whether the project would primarily serve industrial operations within the Dangote Group or feed directly into the national grid.
The announcement places Dangote on a potential competitive path with fellow billionaire Femi Otedola, whose Geregu Power Plc remains one of Nigeria’s prominent electricity generation firms.
Dangote said the planned expansion into power is being driven by stronger cash flows and improved balance-sheet flexibility across his businesses following years of heavy capital investment.
“We are now actually free of assets, and we can actually raise more money. Our cash flow now is very, very strong,” he said.
The billionaire industrialist also outlined an aggressive growth agenda across fertiliser production, mining, shipping and liquefied natural gas.
According to him, the Dangote Group plans to become the world’s largest fertiliser producer within the next two and a half years by scaling urea output to 12 million tonnes annually.
“Today, in about two and a half years, we will be the largest fertiliser company in the world. We are putting up 12 million tons of urea,” Dangote said.
As part of that strategy, the group is opening potash and phosphate mines in the Republic of the Congo and Brazil, while also constructing what he described as one of Africa’s largest deep-sea ports with an 18-metre draft capacity.
The latest power announcement comes as the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery continues ramping up operations after commencing fuel production earlier this year. The refinery, located in Lekki, has a refining capacity of 650,000 barrels per day and is expected to strengthen domestic fuel supply while reducing Nigeria’s dependence on imported petroleum products.
Dangote said his long-term ambition is to demonstrate that large-scale industrialisation in Africa can be financed and executed largely with African capital.
“If I don’t invest my own money, I can never convince people that Africa is a good place to invest,” he said. “I have demonstrated that these things are possible.”
Separately, Dangote Industries Limited recently signed a $4.2 billion natural gas supply agreement with China’s GCL Group to support a major fertiliser expansion project in Ethiopia.
The 25-year agreement will supply gas to a planned fertiliser complex in Gode, in Ethiopia’s Somali Region. When completed, the facility is expected to become East Africa’s largest fertiliser production hub, with annual capacity projected at three million tonnes of urea.