KEY POINTS
- The Dangote Zimbabwe deal includes a $1 billion investment package.
- The plan covers a fertilizer plant and a 2,000-kilometer pipeline.
- The agreement strengthens industrial and energy links across Southern Africa.
Africa’s richest businessman, Aliko Dangote, has reached a $1 billion investment agreement with Zimbabwe that could reshape a key stretch of Southern Africa’s energy and industrial network.
The deal covers a new fertilizer plant and a 2,000-kilometer pipeline linking Namibia’s Walvis Bay port to Botswana and on to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city. It comes as Dangote prepares to visit Zimbabwe to finalise plans for a broad industrial complex spanning cement, coal and power.
His team has been in talks with the government for months, signalling deepening interest in a region seeking large-scale private investment.
Momentum builds around Dangote Zimbabwe deal
Dangote met President Emmerson Mnangagwa in Harare on Wednesday, where both sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The agreement ranks among Zimbabwe’s largest private-sector commitments in recent years. Authorities see the investment as a chance to rebuild confidence and attract long-term capital after years of economic strain. Dangote told reporters the overall investment runs into the hundreds of millions of dollars. He added that the pipeline alone lifts the total above the $1 billion mark.
A presidential spokesperson said the pipeline and related industrial projects could help lower fuel import costs, cut logistics pressures and support domestic production. Zimbabwe’s energy system has long struggled with power shortages and costly import routes. The government expects the pipeline to ease the flow of fuel and feedstock into core industrial centres.
Regional stakes rise in Dangote Zimbabwe deal
The deal extends beyond transport links. It includes plans for a fertilizer operation, cement capacity and a fuel storage hub in Walvis Bay, which Dangote’s team is currently assessing. Such a hub could offer alternative supply routes for markets in Southern Africa that depend on imports from Europe and Asia. For Dangote Industries, which operates across 17 African markets spanning cement, sugar, refining and food products, Zimbabwe offers raw materials, consumer demand and unmet infrastructure needs. The country still imports cement during peak construction periods and faces recurring instability in its electricity grid, creating space for independent power producers.
According to Billionaire Africa, Dangote has been accelerating investments tied to food security and industrial supply. Earlier this month, he signed a fertilizer agreement with Germany’s thyssenkrupp Uhde aimed at expanding Nigeria’s urea capacity. The move supports broader efforts to build Africa-focused production corridors. Bloomberg values his net worth at about $29.8 billion. One of his group’s subsidiaries, Dangote Sugar, recently announced a $700 million plan to expand sugar production in Nigeria to raise domestic output and reduce reliance on imports. As the pipeline and fertilizer plans advance in Zimbabwe, analysts expect Dangote’s footprint in Southern Africa to deepen across energy, manufacturing and logistics sectors.
