The Dangote Petroleum Refinery — the world’s largest single-train refinery, based in Lagos — has hit its full nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, operating at 99.4% utilization. Since reaching full capacity in early 2026, the refinery has shipped 456,000 metric tonnes of fuel to Ghana, Cameroon, Togo, Tanzania, and Senegal, with further exports reaching European markets. Nigeria has now officially achieved net petrol exporter status, with the refinery covering roughly 80% of domestic demand.
Billionaire Aliko Dangote declared this week that his refinery will definitively end Africa’s century-long dependence on imported refined petroleum — a claim now backed by data. The refinery has helped ease fuel supply crunches worsened by ongoing Middle East geopolitical tensions, which had disrupted global shipping routes.
Looking further ahead, Dangote has announced plans to double capacity to 1.4 million bpd by 2028 and build a new $17 billion refinery in Mombasa, Kenya to extend energy security across East Africa. The broader African business mood is bullish: BUA Group announced major cement expansion across West Africa, and South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Energy is deepening continental investments in renewable energy and digital banking.
