Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote is weighing new investments in Botswana, holding talks with the country’s leadership on major infrastructure projects as his conglomerate presses toward a fivefold revenue target of $100 billion by 2030.

Botswana eyes Dangote for heavy industry

The discussions in the capital, Gaborone, centered on heavy industry and transport, putting the continent’s wealthiest person in line to potentially back cement manufacturing and regional rail links.

While the meetings closed without formal contracts, President Duma Boko told Dangote that Botswana wants large-scale capital rather than modest ventures, urging him to partner with domestic pension funds on any future project.

Boko met Dangote on Thursday during a courtesy call that followed earlier discussions in New York and at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa. Further contact had been handled through financial intermediaries, including the Botswana Stock Exchange.

The talks leaned heavily on project execution. Boko argued that while African governments rarely lack economic policies, poor implementation remains the continent’s primary hurdle. He pointed to Dangote Group’s footprint in Ethiopia and Congo-Brazzaville, along with a planned refinery in Kenya, as proof that large-scale African industrial delivery works.

Dangote fuels Botswana Trans-Kalahari ambitions

With Africa’s population projected to account for a quarter of the world’s total by 2050, Boko said the continent can no longer afford to import basic goods as fundamental as detergent. The most immediate opening involves the Trans-Kalahari rail line, which Boko said should break ground this year.

Infrastructure of that size requires steady supplies of cement and building materials, creating a natural opening for Dangote’s core manufacturing business. Boko urged the billionaire to bring local pension managers and domestic institutions into the financing pool, calling the talks the start of a broader partnership.

Dangote dominates African cement production, operating across 10 nations through his 87.45 percent stake in publicly traded Dangote Cement Plc. The Botswana bid feeds straight into his “Vision 2030” plan, a two-phase, $40 billion capital drive aimed at hauling annual group revenue to $100 billion.

Dangote powers historic African energy expansion

Back in Nigeria, Dangote continues to build around his massive energy footprint outside Lagos. The facility, which processes 700,000 barrels of crude a day, is preparing to add a second crude distillation unit with a daily capacity of 750,000 barrels by 2028, potentially taking total output to about 1.45 million barrels a day.

The group is also pursuing an initial public offering for the refinery on the Nigerian Exchange, targeting an October debut subject to regulatory clearance. The transaction is backed by a $1 billion underwriting package, including a funded $600 million private placement and a $400 million commitment.

Dangote intends to channel roughly $5 billion raised from the share sale into expanding the Lagos hub and advancing East African operations. In July, Dangote Industries settled months of regional competition by confirming plans for a $17 billion petrochemical complex in Lamu, Kenya. The Lamu project is designed to produce refined fuels, chemicals, and fertilizer to cut Africa’s reliance on foreign energy imports.