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Dangote Industries acquires a 25 percent interest in Kenya’s petroleum products pipeline network.
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The group is pursuing distribution projects in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Cameroon and Namibia to expand fuel supply across Africa.
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Dangote outlines a proposed 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Kenya and a $50bn investment programme for 2026–2030.
October 22, (THEWILL) – Aliko Dangote has disclosed that Dangote Industries Limited has acquired a 25 percent stake in a petroleum products pipeline network in Kenya as the conglomerate expands its fuel distribution infrastructure across Africa.
Dangote announced the investment during a conversation with the Africa Editor of the Financial Times, David Pilling, at the Financial Times Africa Summit 2026 in London.
“Just let me tell you, yesterday, with the support from the President of Kenya, we bought 25 percent of the pipeline network for the distribution of petroleum products”, he said.
The acquisition forms part of a broader strategy to build transportation, storage and distribution infrastructure that can move refined petroleum products from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos into multiple African markets.
“We are very aggressive with that”, Dangote said, describing the group’s plans to develop depots, pipelines and other distribution facilities.
Distribution Corridors Across Africa
Beyond Kenya, Dangote said the group was pursuing petroleum distribution projects in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Cameroon and Namibia.
In East Africa, the company is developing a proposed distribution corridor linking Djibouti with Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, supported by tank farms for storing and moving petroleum products.
He said a separate project in Cameroon was approaching completion, while Namibia had emerged as a strategic entry point into Southern Africa.
According to Dangote, the voyage from Lagos to Namibia takes approximately four days, providing a potential route for supplying refined products from the Nigerian refinery to markets further south.
The proposed network would extend distribution into Botswana and South Africa, with another corridor serving Zimbabwe and Zambia.
The expansion could widen the refinery’s customer base beyond Nigeria and reduce logistical barriers to supplying petroleum products across regional markets. However, Dangote did not disclose the financial value of the Kenyan pipeline acquisition, the network’s capacity or the expected completion dates for the various projects.
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Kenya Refinery Plan
The pipeline investment comes alongside Dangote’s proposal to establish a refinery in Lamu, Kenya, with a planned capacity of about 700,000 barrels per day.
He said East Africa’s industrial and mining activities, growing energy needs, and difficulties accessing diesel and other petroleum products informed the proposed investment.
The refinery would source crude oil from different markets rather than rely exclusively on supplies from Uganda or Kenya.
Dangote said Lamu was selected after technical assessments of several potential locations, with deep-water access, marine infrastructure and adequate water resources among the key considerations.
He added that the investment decision was reached within four months, alleging that commercial interests attempted to frustrate the project through legal proceedings shortly before its planned public unveiling.
The proposed refinery would represent a major expansion of Dangote’s refining ambitions beyond Nigeria, although the company has not disclosed the project’s final investment cost or construction schedule in the remarks provided.
$50bn Investment Plan
Dangote also disclosed that the group had budgeted approximately $50bn for investments between 2026 and 2030, although he did not provide a breakdown of the proposed spending across its businesses.
He linked the investment drive to a broader ambition to accelerate industrialisation and urged African governments to protect domestic manufacturers against unfair foreign competition.
“Exporting our jobs out of the continent, importing poverty into the continent”, he said, warning that excessive dependence on imported products could weaken local industries and employment.
Dangote also identified unreliable electricity supply as a major obstacle to industrial development, particularly in mining and mineral processing, where insufficient power limits the ability of countries to process raw materials locally.
He said approximately 650 million Africans lacked access to electricity, arguing that improved power supply would support manufacturing, job creation and economic diversification.
“The legacy we are trying to set up is: how do we industrialise our continent?” he asked.
Ogochukwu Onwaeze is a writer specializing in business and economic journalism. At THEWILL News Media, she translates market trends, financial developments, and policy shifts into clear and engaging stories.
