Dangote Fertiliser Limited is targeting annual production capacity of 12 million metric tonnes as the Dangote Group accelerates a major expansion of the business ahead of a planned stock market listing.
President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, said the fertiliser company plans to develop six production lines with production from the expanded facilities expected to commence between late 2028 and early 2029.
The expansion would significantly increase the scale of Dangote’s fertiliser operations and strengthen the group’s position in Africa’s agricultural input market.
Dangote currently operates a major fertiliser complex in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos with annual urea production capacity of about three million tonnes.
The proposed expansion would therefore increase the group’s targeted annual capacity to four times the current level.
Dangote disclosed the latest plans during an investors’ meeting at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, where he also said the group is now targeting a public listing of Dangote Fertiliser in 2027.
The 2027 target represents an acceleration from the 2028 timeline Dangote had publicly indicated earlier in September.
During an earlier appearance at the Qatar Economic Forum UNGA Special Edition in New York, Dangote said the fertiliser business would be taken public in 2028 as part of efforts to broaden ownership of the group’s major industrial businesses.
The latest disclosure therefore suggests the group could bring the fertiliser company to the capital market earlier than previously planned.
The proposed listing would follow Dangote Group’s broader strategy of opening some of its largest businesses to public investors rather than maintaining closely held ownership.
Dangote said in Nairobi that the intention is for the fertiliser company to become publicly owned, although further details on the proposed listing structure, valuation and exchange were not disclosed.
Expansion Beyond Nigeria
The 12 million-tonne target forms part of a wider expansion of Dangote’s fertiliser operations across Africa.
The group has previously outlined plans to expand production in Nigeria while developing a fertiliser project in Ethiopia.
Dangote has also disclosed plans to develop potash and phosphate resources and establish capacity for 2.2 million tonnes of diammonium phosphate, or DAP, as the group expands beyond its existing urea operations.
The strategy could give the company exposure to a broader range of fertiliser products while increasing Africa’s domestic production capacity.
Dangote has previously said the expanded fertiliser operation could eventually meet more than 40 percent of Africa’s fertiliser demand, linking the investment programme to efforts to reduce the continent’s dependence on imported agricultural inputs.
Dangote Adds Shipping Business
Alongside the fertiliser expansion, Dangote disclosed that the group has established a new shipping unit to support its growing operations.
The move comes as the conglomerate expands industrial and energy investments across several African markets, increasing the importance of logistics to the movement of raw materials and finished products.
The fertiliser expansion and proposed listing add another major project to Dangote Group’s investment pipeline as the conglomerate increases production capacity while gradually opening its industrial businesses to outside investors.
