Dangote plans $10bn investment in power sector

President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has disclosed plans to invest more than $10 billion in Africa’s power sector over the next three to four years, saying reliable electricity is essential to the continent’s economic growth and industrialisation.

Dangote made the disclosure in an interview with Al Jazeera published on Monday, September 21, 2026, where he said the group could redirect funds from one or two businesses it may decide not to pursue into power investments.

According to him, the decision reflects the importance of electricity to Africa’s development and his expectation of significant economic transformation across the continent in the coming years.

“And I’m telling you, in the next three to four years, there will be a major transformation in Africa. And that’s why we’re looking at power, for example. We are going to invest in power,” Dangote said.

He added that the group could cancel one or two planned businesses and redirect the funds into the power sector.

“We want to invest over $10 billion alone in power,” he said.

Dangote did not disclose the specific countries, power projects, generation capacity or financing structure for the proposed investment.

He, however, linked the planned spending to Africa’s long-standing electricity deficit, saying the continent cannot achieve sustained economic growth without adequate power supply.

Dangote said more than 600 million Africans remain without access to electricity, describing the situation as one that should not be allowed to continue.

“It doesn’t make sense. So power is key. We will never, ever create growth without power,” he said.

The businessman explained that electricity is not only needed to light homes but also to keep factories, businesses and other productive activities running.

“So that’s why they say, power is growth. When I say power, I mean electricity is growth,” he added.

Why the investment matters

Electricity remains one of Africa’s major infrastructure challenges. Limited generation capacity, unreliable supply and inadequate energy infrastructure continue to affect businesses and households, increasing the cost of production and limiting industrial expansion.

For large manufacturers, reliable electricity is particularly important because factories require steady power to operate machinery and maintain production.

Dangote’s own businesses have historically invested in captive power generation to reduce dependence on public electricity supply. The group’s existing energy investments include power facilities supporting its industrial operations, while its wider expansion has increasingly linked manufacturing, energy and infrastructure.

The latest announcement therefore represents a possible expansion of Dangote’s role from using private power to support his own industrial operations to making a much larger investment in electricity infrastructure across Africa.

The group is already pursuing power-related projects outside Nigeria. In September, Nigerian NewsDirect reported that Dangote Industries was in discussions with the Kenyan government over a proposed 1,000MW gas-fired power plant linked to its planned refinery project in Lamu. The proposal is still subject to negotiations on areas including gas supply, financing and power purchase arrangements.

Dangote’s latest comments also suggest that power could receive greater priority within the group’s future investment plans.

He said the group was reviewing some proposed businesses and could redirect capital from projects it decides to cancel into electricity.

Dangote links power to economic growth

Beyond the business case, Dangote argued that reliable electricity would also change the relationship between governments and citizens.

He said political leaders who are able to provide dependable electricity would have a visible achievement to point to when seeking public support.

His broader argument was that economic growth depends on productive capacity, and productive capacity cannot expand significantly without dependable energy.

The comments come as African countries seek to attract more private investment into electricity generation and infrastructure while dealing with rising energy demand from population growth, industrialisation and urbanisation.

For Dangote, the proposed investment is also consistent with his wider push to build large-scale businesses on the continent rather than relying heavily on imports.

Group targets wider public ownership

The power plan was not the only major issue Dangote discussed during the interview.

He said Dangote Group intends to eventually list all of its businesses, allowing members of the public to become shareholders in the companies.

He said the move would extend the public ownership model beyond the group’s existing listed businesses.

“The whole thing is that the group is having different sorts of segments of the business,” he said.

Dangote also pointed to the group’s fertiliser business, saying it could become the world’s largest urea company by 2028.

He said the plan to list the group’s businesses was aimed at spreading ownership and allowing more people to participate in the wealth created by the companies.

“Every single company now that we are operating will end up listing it to make sure that the society at large are part owners of all these investments,” he said.

He added that the proposed listings would also strengthen corporate governance across the group.

The plan comes as Dangote continues to pursue broader public participation in the ownership of the group’s major assets. Nigerian NewsDirect had earlier reported his push to make the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s proposed public offering accessible to a wide range of investors.

For the power investment, however, the next stage will be details on where the more than $10 billion would be deployed, the projects involved and how much new generation capacity the investment is expected to deliver.