We'll start now. Let's begin. Let's go ahead and start. Thank you very much. Building at scale, of course, means committing long before conditions are perfect — when power is unstable, logistics are difficult, and the return on investment can take years. Our first guest has spent decades making those decisions. This morning, we'll explore what drives him to invest, what he's learned about building amid uncertainty, and what it takes for more African companies to grow at scale. Please join me in welcoming to the stage Aliko Dangote, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Dangote Group. Aliko, thank you very much.
Thank you. Please. It's always a pleasure, and it always makes me happy to speak with you on the stage of the Africa Prosperity Forum. I've been a good friend of Gabby's for many years now. I'd like to start with a question for the audience. How many Dangote family members are in the hall? Yes. This is a shareholders' meeting, isn't it?
It's supposed to be a shareholders' meeting.
Yes, so be ready. Be ready. We're discussing board-level issues this morning. You've spent decades building at scale — sugar, cement, the Lagos refinery, a giant refinery under construction in East Africa. And this month, on September 14th, we launched the largest public offering on the African continent, and the largest industrial project in Africa for public offering. Why now, and what does this moment mean to you?
Well, thank you very much. It's wonderful to be here with all of you. I think this moment means a great deal, and you're asking the question: why now? Of course, why now? We wanted to reduce the risk of the project itself. You know, when you hear about a 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery, it sounds easier in theory. It's easier to ask the question. And this refinery we're talking about is one that no one has ever built like it anywhere in the world — not just in Africa. The largest single production train ever built by multinational companies like Saudi Aramco and its partners is 450,000 barrels per day. And when we hired 340 engineers in India and 76 engineers in Chicago to challenge the licensor company, which is Honeywell — they have a company, UOP, which is part of Honeywell — they didn't believe anyone could do it.
Even in their own statements, they said, 'No, we only guarantee 460,000 barrels.' But in short, today we are producing 700,000. We will operate at 700,000 capacity. We couldn't get any contractor because the industry 'mafia' must have warned everyone against accepting to do the engineering, procurement, and construction work for us. So we knew nothing about refineries, but we put together a team and said we would get it done. It would happen. Nobody believed what we said, but we built it in the end. We built the petrochemical complex, and it is running at the lowest cost on a greenfield basis.
And it's running at full capacity now.
Yes, at full capacity. So, after taking on all those risks, we said, 'Okay, fine. What do we do next?' Because the next step was that we said we want to manufacture in Africa, but we don't want it to remain as it always has been — with us owning 90 to 100 percent of the companies ourselves. We said, 'Let's make this company owned by the people.'
Let me ask you about that, because it's really important. You could have listed the shares in London or New York in the initial public offering. You didn't do that. But why was it important to you that ordinary Africans, including ordinary Nigerians, get access to these assets first?
No, I mean, we're opening access now to all Africans, not just Nigerians. This refinery doesn't belong to Nigerians alone — it belongs to Africans, because part of our legacy is to make Africa self-sufficient. So anyone with an app can get in and invest. And what we're saying is that for the first time with this listing, we don't want to go to the New York exchange first. We must list it on African shores to make it an African company. So we listed it, and we're now listing it in Nigeria. We launched the offering. There were a few challenges, as I said earlier. When we started, we launched on Monday, and the application system completely collapsed because of the flood of people rushing to buy shares.
Out of sheer excitement. I received phone calls from Guinea — yes, from there — and everyone wants to buy Dangote shares. Now, how will you make it more... will it be more accessible soon?
Well, yes. I think what I'm saying is that any of those small investors who applied may not have their needs met — the large companies requesting 100 million or thereabouts — but the small investors will definitely get everything they ask for. We will give it to them.
Okay. Aliko, let me ask you about the giant refinery project in East Africa now. You once said you would never build another refinery after what you went through with Lagos, right?
Yes. Now you're planning this $15 billion refinery in East Africa, in Kenya, which doesn't have commercial crude oil production, by the way. So it's a big challenge. What made you change your mind about starting another refinery?
You know, let me go back a little. That's true. I know I told you — I think it was you — that I did an interview at my home in Lagos and told you that I didn't know what I was getting into. I even said that if I had a bad prayer for any enemy, it would be to pray that my enemy goes and starts building a refinery. So I think now that fear is gone.
And I realized that... you know, I sat and said, 'Okay, fine.' I really want to ask myself a question. Why? Why haven't we in Africa been able to develop? We kept talking about potential, potential, potential. What is the reason we haven't been able to develop like Asia? For example, do you remember when they called them the Asian Tigers? Because the Asians believed in their own economy. So they were the ones who built their economy themselves. Even here in the United States, it's Americans who invest first, and then others join later. We do the opposite — we take our money to their banks, strengthen their banks, and don't keep our money on our own continent.
So I said, 'No, we must build our continent.' So the whole thing has changed now, where we said, we alone at Dangote: 'Look, you know what? We want to lead and support manufacturing in Africa.'
So is the Kenya refinery a bet on African integration then?
No, it's now part of our 2030 vision. The first is to double the Nigeria refinery to 1.4 million barrels, to nearly triple polypropylene production — a petrochemical product — and to build another plant for linear alkylbenzene, a raw material for making detergents. And we have between $46 billion and $50 billion in our plans for investment. But when you look at East Africa, that whole side of the continent — they all import. And despite having 54 countries in Africa, they all import. Nobody produces. That's right, East Africa doesn't have... you know, someone asked me last year: 'No, but why are you going to East Africa to talk about a refinery when they don't have any?' I said, 'Yes, but did you know there are many refineries in Singapore? Did you know Singapore has many refineries?'
Interesting. But do you think, Alhaji, that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is ready for this level of ambition you're describing?
Well, they are ready. You know, I think you see now a lot of people wanting to invest in Africa, but they're looking for scale and for the identity of who is doing this investment. They are ready. I mean, people are ready. They are willing. They want to go and invest money on the continent. But they don't know how and where. So when you build something at scale like the refinery we own, we are performing very well. Someone asked me yesterday: 'Oh, Africa was very lucky — if it weren't for this refinery during this looming crisis, they'd be in trouble.' I said, 'No, Europe is the lucky one because we supply most of their jet fuel.' You know, so we are the beneficiaries. So you can see now Africa supplying Europe. That's a very big change.
It's a very big change, and no doubt the geopolitical context... but this will continue to happen, because all this bauxite, all this iron ore, all this copper will add value. We'll make a lot of money, and then we'll send them finished products instead of sending raw materials.
Okay. So what is the one piece of advice you would give, Alhaji, to an African industrialist today trying to build a massive, full-scale plant? You've been through many challenges over the years. What is the single piece of advice you would give?
Okay, one piece of advice. I'll come back to the Kenya project — I haven't forgotten it. So the one piece of advice I must give to African entrepreneurs is that we must first believe in our continent. And we must be extremely focused. To make sure — yes, things are... I don't mean it's easy, but once you start, then you'll start making it easier. If you don't start, the more you delay doing anything, the more it keeps getting harder. There's nowhere on earth you'll go now and get a free lunch. They say there's no such thing as a free lunch. So wherever you go now to invest — you want to go to the United States, you'll face problems, demands from regulators, demands from whoever. So in Africa too, it's the same.
But I think we all come from... I mean, we speak different languages, but we speak the same language. The same language in the sense that we understand each other. I don't understand Swahili, but if you're talking to me, I'll understand what you're trying to say.
Going back to Lamu — it's true that we are actually launching that project on the 30th of this month. We are spending $16 billion, as you know, on that project, and it will be ready within the next three years.
Okay. And now, looking to the future, Alhaji, what do you say — or looking to the past, I should say — was the refinery the hardest thing you've ever built? Or is there something ahead of you now that scares you more than that experience?
No, I think the refinery really was the hardest. I have to admit it was the most challenging period of my life. It was something...
