Aliko Dangote, president and chief executive of Dangote Industries Limited, has outlined a $50 billion investment programme for 2026 to 2030 as he called for Africa to build the financial institutions, electricity infrastructure and industrial policies needed to transform itself into a global manufacturing powerhouse. Speaking at the 2026 Financial Times Africa Summit in London, Dangote said the continent possessed the natural resources, population and investment opportunities required to succeed at scale, but lacked the institutional framework to translate those advantages into sustainable economic prosperity.
Dangote identified three priorities for Africa's industrial development. He stressed the need for strong domestic financial institutions capable of funding large-scale projects, robust agricultural and industrial policies that encourage value addition and economic diversification, and above all, reliable electricity supply. He described power as the most urgent requirement for unlocking the continent's potential, noting that inadequate electricity had forced African countries to export raw minerals rather than capture the greater economic value of processing and manufacturing them locally. Mining companies frequently cited unreliable power as a reason for not establishing processing facilities near extraction sites, he said.
The industrialist drew on his own experience to illustrate the financing challenges facing African industrial investment. He disclosed that Dangote Group had been forced to finance the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos against its own balance sheet rather than secure conventional project financing, which he described as extremely difficult to obtain for major African industrial projects. Prolonged financing negotiations, he explained, could undermine project viability by delaying execution, increasing costs and exposing investors to changing economic conditions.
The refinery's development exposed the Group to extraordinary financial risks. Dangote said the exchange rate moved from approximately 136 naira to the dollar to as high as 1,800 naira during the project's construction, while about 90 per cent of the Group's revenue was denominated in naira. He said the proposed $50 billion investment programme was designed partly to encourage other Africans to recognise the opportunities available across the continent and to demonstrate how to industrialise the continent.
For Nigeria's businesses and investors, the challenges Dangote described - unreliable power supply, difficult access to project financing and currency depreciation - directly affect the viability and cost of large-scale industrial investment in the country.