AFC backs $7bn Dangote Fertiliser expansion to strengthen Africa’s food security

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC)), is helping drive a $7 billion fertiliser expansion programme by Dangote Group designed to triple production capacity in Nigeria and establish a major new manufacturing platform in Ethiopia.

As a cornerstone commitment to the programme, AFC is providing a $600 million facility to Greenview Fertiliser Corp., Dangote’s fertiliser holding company.

The transaction deepens AFC’s longstanding partnership with Dangote Group across some of Africa’s most consequential industrial projects.

AFC was Co-Coordinating Bank on a $3 billion syndicated loan for Dangote Refinery and recently received full repayment of its foundational $300 million senior term loan to Dangote Industries Limited, which helped advance the refinery from concept to reality.

The redeployment at double this amount into Dangote Group underscores AFC’s model of providing early-stage risk capital before recycling into the next generation of transformative projects once assets reach stable, cash-generative operations.

The fertiliser investment positions Africa to get ahead of structural trends shaping long-term development priorities, including rapid population growth, rising food demand, climate-related pressures on agricultural systems and the need to capture greater value from natural resources.

Recent disruptions to global supply chains and commodity markets have further underscored the risks associated with dependence on imported agricultural inputs.

Despite holding some of the world’s largest natural gas reserves and a quarter of its uncultivated arable land, Africa remains reliant on imported fertilizer, making expanded production critical to food security and agricultural resilience.

Dangote’s expansion programme is projected to increase urea fertiliser production capacity in Nigeria from 3 million metric tonnes per annum (“MTPA”) to 9 MTPA, while adding a new 3 MTPA urea fertiliser plant in Ethiopia.

It is expected to strengthen regional food security, support agricultural productivity, reduce dependence on imported fertilizer and bolster the continent’s position as a supplier to international markets.

Commenting on the transaction, Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, said: “This investment marks another important milestone in our long-standing partnership with AFC as we embark on the next phase of Dangote Fertilizer’s growth.

Expanding our fertiliser production capacity in Nigeria and developing a new plant in Ethiopia will strengthen Africa’s food security, support agricultural productivity, and deepen the continent’s industrial base.

AFC has consistently supported Dangote Group at critical stages of our growth, and its renewed commitment reflects confidence in our vision to build globally competitive African industrial platforms”.

Samaila Zubairu, President & CEO of AFC, said: “The question before Africa is simple: how will we feed 2.5 billion people by 2050? Africa’s 1.5 billion people consume just 6 million tonnes of urea annually, compared to 40 million tonnes in India and 50 million tonnes in China, despite having similar-sized populations.

Closing this productivity gap is essential to Africa’s food security. By supporting the development of the world’s largest fertiliser platform, AFC is helping build the foundation for Africa to feed itself, create productive jobs and strengthen our economic sovereignty.

This is not just an investment in fertilizer production. It is evidence of the Africa we are building.”

AFC has played a catalytic role across multiple phases of Dangote Group’s industrial growth, partnering with Access Bank in 2024 to provide Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE’s first working capital facility, supporting crude procurement for commissioning and initial production.

The latest financing reflects AFC’s focus on investments that strengthen the systems underpinning long-term economic growth, including energy, transport, logistics, industrial processing and food security.

Alongside investments in strategic transport corridors, ports, power generation and industrial platforms, AFC continues to support projects that increase Africa’s capacity to produce, process and distribute critical goods domestically while expanding exports to regional and international markets.