Aliko Dangote, the billionaire behind Africa’s largest industrial conglomerate, has set his sights on Nigeria’s epileptic power sector with a plan to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity.
Dangote’s entry into the sector follows a string of failed promises from the Nigerian government. Adebayo Adelabu, ex-Power Minister, has repeatedly missed deadlines to stabilise the grid at even 6,000 megawatts, a fraction of what Dangote is now proposing.
BusinessDay reported that the ambitious plan comes as the continent’s most populous nation continues to buckle under a chronic energy deficit that has seen government targets missed and industrial growth stifled.
The announcement, made during a conversation with International Finance Corporation Managing Director Makhtar Diop, marks a significant escalation in Dangote’s industrial footprint beyond oil refining, cement, and fertiliser.
“We are now going into power… 20,000 megawatts,” he said, adding that Africa’s most pressing needs remain energy, fertilisers, and industrial inputs.
Having recently commissioned a 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery and established a dominant position in the fertiliser market, the billionaire suggests his group now possesses the liquidity and asset base to tackle the power sector.
He noted that his operations are becoming asset-light and generating the kind of robust cash flow required to fund such a capital-intensive expansion.
