Africa’s industrial ambitions just gained fresh momentum as the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) commits major funding to one of the continent’s most aggressive agricultural expansion plans.
The development finance institution is backing a US$7 billion fertiliser programme led by the Dangote Group, aimed at tripling production capacity in Nigeria and building a new large-scale manufacturing hub in Ethiopia.
At the centre of the deal, AFC is providing a US$600 million facility to Greenview Fertiliser Corp., the fertiliser holding company under Dangote. The move deepens a long-running financial partnership that has already shaped some of Africa’s biggest industrial bets, including the continent’s largest refinery project.
AFC previously served as co-coordinating bank on a US$3 billion syndicated loan for the Dangote Refinery and has now fully recovered its US$300 million senior term loan to Dangote Industries Limited—capital that helped move the refinery from concept to production.
That money has since been redeployed at double the size back into Dangote’s ecosystem, reflecting AFC’s strategy of cycling early risk capital into new industrial projects once assets become stable.
The fertiliser push is designed to reshape Africa’s food and agriculture landscape at a time of rising pressure on global supply chains, climate stress, and fast-growing populations. Despite vast natural gas reserves and significant arable land, the continent still relies heavily on imported fertiliser—an imbalance the programme aims to correct.
The expansion targets a jump in Nigeria’s urea production capacity from 3 million metric tonnes per year to 9 million, alongside a new 3 million tonne plant in Ethiopia. The goal is to reduce import dependence, strengthen food security, and position Africa as a stronger player in global agricultural supply.
“This investment marks another important milestone in our long-standing partnership with AFC as we embark on the next phase of Dangote Fertilizer’s growth," Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, said.
"Expanding our fertiliser production capacity in Nigeria and developing a new plant in Ethiopia will strengthen Africa’s food security, support agricultural productivity, and deepen the continent’s industrial base.
"AFC has consistently supported Dangote Group at critical stages of our growth, and its renewed commitment reflects confidence in our vision to build globally competitive African industrial platforms”.
From AFC’s perspective, the stakes are even broader.
“The question before Africa is simple: how will we feed 2.5 billion people by 2050? Africa’s 1.5 billion people consume just 6 million tonnes of urea annually, compared to 40 million tonnes in India and 50 million tonnes in China, despite having similar-sized populations. Closing this productivity gap is essential to Africa’s food security.
"By supporting the development of the world’s largest fertiliser platform, AFC is helping build the foundation for Africa to feed itself, create productive jobs and strengthen our economic sovereignty. This is not just an investment in fertilizer production. It is evidence of the Africa we are building," Samaila Zubairu, President & CEO of AFC, said.
AFC has increasingly positioned itself as a catalytic financier across Dangote’s industrial empire, including earlier support for the Dangote Industries Limited refinery project alongside Access Bank in 2024, which helped secure working capital for crude procurement during commissioning and early output.
More broadly, AFC says its investment strategy is focused on the backbone systems of long-term growth—energy, logistics, transport corridors, ports, power, and industrial processing—aimed at boosting Africa’s ability to produce and export essential goods rather than rely on imports.
