The President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has announced that the Group has acquired a 25 per cent stake in Kenya’s petroleum products pipeline network as part of efforts to strengthen its distribution infrastructure across Africa.
Dangote disclosed the investment during a conversation with the Africa Editor of the Financial Times, David Pilling, at the Financial Times Africa Summit 2026 in London, United Kingdom.
“Just let me tell you, yesterday, with the support from the President of Kenya, we bought 25 per cent of the pipeline network for the distribution of petroleum products,” he said.
The acquisition is in Kenya Pipeline Company, which transports petroleum products across the country. The investment forms part of Dangote’s broader strategy to establish an integrated network for refining, storage and distribution across the continent.
The industrialist said the Group was also pursuing petroleum distribution infrastructure projects in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Cameroon and Namibia to improve the movement of refined products across African markets.
“We are very aggressive with that,” he said in response to a question about plans to develop depots, pipelines and other distribution facilities.
In East Africa, Dangote said the Group was developing a distribution corridor connecting Djibouti to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. The project would include tank farms to support the storage and transportation of petroleum products.
He added that a project in Cameroon was nearing completion, while Namibia had been identified as a strategic location for expansion into Southern Africa.
According to him, Namibia’s location would enable the Group to establish a supply route from its refinery in Lagos to markets in the southern part of the continent.
“From our refinery to Namibia is just about four days of steaming,” he said.
Dangote explained that refined petroleum products would be shipped from Lagos to Namibia before being distributed through interconnected markets, including Botswana and South Africa.
He also outlined plans for a distribution corridor extending through Zimbabwe and Zambia, with strategically located storage and transportation facilities intended to serve multiple countries.
The expansion of the Group’s distribution network comes amid its plans to establish a major refinery in Lamu, Kenya, with a proposed processing capacity of about 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The project’s groundbreaking ceremony took place in September 2026.
Dangote said the decision to invest in East Africa was driven by the region’s industrial and mining activities, rising energy demand and persistent difficulties in accessing diesel and other petroleum products.
He explained that the proposed refinery would source crude oil from different markets rather than depend exclusively on production from Uganda or Kenya.
The businessman said the choice of Lamu followed technical assessments of several potential locations, with deep-water access, marine facilities and adequate water resources among the critical considerations.
He added that the investment decision was reached within four months, although he alleged that vested commercial interests had attempted to frustrate the project through legal proceedings shortly before its public unveiling.
Beyond investments in energy infrastructure, Dangote called on African governments to protect domestic industries against unfair foreign competition, arguing that reliance on imported goods was undermining manufacturing and employment across the continent.
He questioned why African countries should expose emerging industries to unrestricted foreign competition when major economies were increasingly introducing measures to protect their own manufacturers.
Dangote warned that allowing imported products to displace locally manufactured goods would weaken employment opportunities and deepen poverty.
“Exporting our jobs out of the continent, importing poverty into the continent,” he said, describing the consequences of such dependence.
He also disclosed that the Group had earmarked approximately $50bn for investments between 2026 and 2030. According to him, the programme would expand its operations while encouraging other African entrepreneurs and investors to participate in the continent’s industrial development.
“The legacy we are trying to set up is how do we industrialise our continent?” he asked.
Dangote identified unreliable electricity supply as one of the major barriers to industrialisation, particularly in mining and mineral processing, where inadequate power often prevents countries from processing their natural resources locally before export.
He said about 650 million Africans lacked access to electricity, adding that addressing the continent’s power deficit would create opportunities for manufacturing, employment and economic diversification.
Questioning why Africa, despite its vast agricultural land, mineral resources and youthful population, continued to experience widespread poverty, Dangote argued that the continent possessed the fundamental resources needed to become a major industrial force.
