Dangote Refinery secures $4 billion loan as Afreximbank underwrites $2.5 billion

Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE, Africa’s largest refinery with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, has secured a $4 billion senior syndicated term loan, with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) underwriting $2.5 billion, the largest share of the facility.

The financing adds fresh backing for the $20 billion complex built by Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote, as the plant deepens operations and expands exports across Africa and Europe.

Afreximbank, Access Bank fund refinery

Afreximbank and Access Bank served as co-mandated lead arrangers for the five-year loan. The facility will consolidate existing borrowings and support the refinery’s balance sheet as operations scale up.

Since refining began in February 2024, Afreximbank has also provided a $1 billion working capital facility and advised on Nigeria’s Naira-for-Crude initiative, designed to allow crude purchases and refined product sales in local currency. 

“This financing strengthens DPRP’s foundation for growth and underscores Afreximbank’s commitment to African industrialization and energy security,” Afreximbank President George Elombi said.

Dangote, president and chief executive of Dangote Industries Limited, said the funding will help the refinery serve Nigeria, the wider African market and international buyers.

Dangote targets 1.4 million capacity expansion

The loan drew interest from African and international lenders, reflecting confidence in the project as a major industrial asset. Expansion plans are also advancing. Dangote has signed agreements, including one with Honeywell, covering licensing and engineering for a proposed 750,000-barrel-per-day facility next to the existing plant.

If completed, total capacity would rise to 1.4 million barrels per day, exceeding India’s Jamnagar complex. Estimates suggest the expanded site could generate as much as $55 billion in annual revenue while cutting Nigeria’s fuel imports and easing pressure on foreign-exchange reserves.

Europe, Africa turn to Dangote

Demand for products from the refinery has also increased, particularly in Europe and across Africa, as supply chains remain strained. Disruptions affecting Middle East flows have tightened availability of refined fuels.

With about 21 percent of global seaborne jet fuel flows curtailed due to effective closures around the Strait of Hormuz, European buyers are seeking alternative supply, placing the Dangote refinery among the options under consideration.

The facility has adjusted domestic fuel prices by more than 70 percent, reflecting higher crude costs, especially as it imports roughly 80 percent of its feedstock. At the same time, exports have grown. The refinery shipped 12 cargoes totaling 456,000 tonnes of refined products to Ghana, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania and Togo.

Dangote scales exports, expansion ahead

Shipping refined petroleum to five African countries marks one of the largest export drives since the plant reached its full 650,000-barrel-per-day capacity in February 2026. Dangote plans to expand capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day within three years, funded by cash flow, strategic investors and a potential listing, while urging investors to rely only on official announcements.

The expansion would also lift polypropylene production to 2.4 million metric tonnes annually, increase output of base oils and linear alkylbenzene, and move fuel production from Euro V to stricter Euro VI standards. Power generation capacity is expected to rise to 1,000 megawatts, allowing the complex to remain largely self-sufficient.