The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) will provide a US$600 million financing facility to the Dangote Group to support a major expansion of fertiliser production in Nigeria and the construction of a new plant in Ethiopia, the development finance institution said.
The funding will be channelled through Greenview Fertilizer Corp., Dangote’s fertiliser holding company, and is expected to help increase urea production in Nigeria from 3 million metric tonnes to 9 million metric tonnes annually, while adding a further 3 million tonnes of capacity in Ethiopia.
The planned projects form part of a broader expansion strategy by the Dangote Group, which has estimated the total investment cost at up to US$7 billion.
The investment comes as African countries seek to reduce dependence on imported fertiliser, a reliance that has left the continent exposed to global supply chain disruptions and volatility in international commodity markets.
AFC President and Chief Executive Officer, Samaila Zubairu, said the financing would support efforts to strengthen Africa’s food security and industrial capacity.
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“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,” Zubairu said.
The expansion is expected to significantly boost fertiliser availability across Africa, where agricultural productivity remains constrained by limited access to inputs and high import costs.
The Lagos-based AFC has been a key financier of several large-scale infrastructure and industrial projects across the continent. It previously helped coordinate a US$3 billion syndicated loan for the Dangote oil refinery in Nigeria, a 650,000-barrel-per-day facility that is the largest refinery in Africa.
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The fertiliser projects are expected to reinforce Nigeria’s position as a major producer of urea and support regional efforts to improve food production and reduce import dependence.
