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Aliko Dangote, the wealthiest individual in Africa and the CEO of Dangote Group, announced that the company has reached an agreement to invest over $1 billion in cement and energy projects in Zimbabwe.
Dangote made his remarks to reporters following a meeting with Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa in Harare on Wednesday.
The billionaire entrepreneur said that he signed a contract on behalf of Dangote Group to construct cement and power facilities, in addition to a fuel pipeline.
“We have just actually signed an agreement between Zimbabwe and Dangote Group to do various investments in various sectors, some of which, of course, border on cement, some of it in power generation, and some of it in pipelines to bring petroleum products,” he said.
He emphasised that the investment would exceed $1 billion, adding that the group has plans for additional investments in the nation.
Dangote had shown interest in similar investments in Zimbabwe back in 2015, including plans for his Dangote Cement Plc to establish a $400 million plant with a processing capacity of 1.5 million tons annually.
With the recent agreement, Dangote is adding Zimbabwe to his list of investment sites across the continent, which also includes Ethiopia and Zambia.
On October 5, the Dangote Group began the construction of a $2.5 billion fertiliser facility in Gode, Ethiopia. This initiative, a partnership between the conglomerate and Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH), is anticipated to have an annual production capacity of 3 million metric tons of urea, positioning it among the largest fertiliser complexes globally.
Dangote Cement has also constructed a 1.5 million tonnes per annum (mta) facility in Zambia, which commenced operations in the second quarter (Q2) of 2015, according to details on the company’s website.
