Dangote Industries Limited has secured a $4.2 billion, 25-year natural gas supply agreement with China’s GCL Group to power a major fertiliser expansion project in Ethiopia, according to a report by Business Insider.
The deal will guarantee long-term gas supply for Dangote’s proposed three-million-tonne-per-year urea fertiliser complex, a project expected to significantly boost fertiliser production across East Africa.
The fertiliser plant, valued at $2.5 billion, is being developed through a joint venture between Dangote Group and Ethiopian Investment Holdings, with equity stakes of 60 per cent and 40 per cent respectively. Construction is scheduled for completion by 2029.
Once operational, the facility is expected to become the largest modern fertiliser production hub in East Africa, meeting Ethiopia’s domestic urea demand while supplying neighbouring markets.
The agreement, finalised in Lagos, underscores the strategic importance of the partnership and highlights the growing influence of Chinese-African industrial collaborations across the continent.
Over the past two decades, Dangote has established Africa’s largest cement manufacturing network through Dangote Cement, with operations spanning more than a dozen African countries. The group has also expanded into energy and petrochemicals, notably with the Dangote Refinery, the world’s largest single-train oil refinery located in Nigeria.
Through its investment in fertiliser production, Dangote aims to strengthen Africa’s agricultural value chain and reduce dependence on imported farm inputs.
Speaking on the partnership, Dangote said Africa must move beyond exporting raw materials while importing finished goods.
“Africa’s energy industry cannot continue indefinitely exporting raw materials while importing finished products,” he said, adding that the collaboration with GCL would support the development of an integrated value chain from natural gas extraction to fertiliser production.
Chairman of GCL Group, Zhu Gongshan, said the project represents a new model of China–Africa industrial cooperation, combining upstream gas production, pipeline infrastructure and downstream fertiliser manufacturing.