Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has signed a landmark investment deal worth over US$1 billion with Zimbabwe, aiming to reshape Southern Africa’s industrial and energy sectors. The agreement includes a fertiliser production plant in Bulawayo and a 2,000km pipeline transporting fuel from Walvis Bay in Namibia, passing through Botswana, to Zimbabwe’s second-largest city. Dangote met President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday in Harare to formalize the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Officials say the deal represents one of Zimbabwe’s largest private-sector investments in recent years and underscores investor confidence in the government’s economic reform agenda.
“The broader investment is in the hundreds of millions of dollars, maybe even more than a billion, but really it will be over a billion because of the pipeline,” Dangote said, adding that further project details would be released as construction progresses. The agreement will also support major infrastructure projects, including fuel storage facilities at Walvis Bay, which are expected to reduce Southern Africa’s reliance on European and Asian fuel imports. Analysts predict the project could lower fuel import costs and transform Zimbabwe’s energy and fertilizer production, while creating thousands of jobs across the region. Dangote’s conglomerate, already active in cement, energy, and logistics across Africa, is further solidifying its presence in Southern Africa, signaling a new era of private investment-led growth for the region.
