Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has refinanced his industrial conglomerate with a US$ 4bn syndicated loan as he seeks to stabilise operations at his US$20bn refinery complex amidst plans to list the subsidiary.
- •The financing is meant to refinance capital expended on constructing the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals Complex, the biggest single-train refinery in the world with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
- •The refinancing loan-one of the largest syndicated loans in recent African financial markets— includes US$1.35bn from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).
- •Afreximbank also acted as the Mandated Lead Arranger for the syndication.
“This refinancing strengthens our balance sheet and accelerates with ease the refinery’s supply of high-quality refined petroleum products across Africa,” Aliko Dangote, President/Chief Executive, Dangote Industries Limited, said.
Dangote expressed plans to list the US$20bn refinery on the Nigerian Exchange. The Dangote Group already has two enterprises-Dangote Cement and Dangote Sugar Refinery-listed on the Nigerian bourse.
The tycoon recently appointed former Shell executive David Bird as CEO of Dangote Group’s refinery and petrochemical division. Bird will be in charge of the refinery complex in Lagos, which was commissioned in early 2024.
Despite setbacks, the refinery exported 220,000 barrels per day in July. Dangote has also discussed ongoing modifications to boost the overall capacity to 700, 000 barrels per day. The refinery has been getting most of its crude, about 55 percent, from the United States.
“It will finish by the end of the year, and we believe we will get to 700,000 bpd, not even 650,000, because all the other components that we have and all the other departments have all (reached 100 per cent),” Dangote said during a recent media tour.
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