Africa’s wealthiest man and President of Dangote Group, Alh. Aliko Dangote, has expanded his continent-wide energy investment drive with the launch of a $2.5 billion fuel storage and regional pipeline project in Walvis Bay, Namibia, positioning the coastal city as a strategic petroleum distribution hub for Southern Africa.
Launched on November 4, 2026, the proposed development will feature a massive storage facility with a capacity of approximately 600 million litres of petroleum products, comprising 360 million litres of diesel and 240 million litres of petrol.
The wider investment also includes plans for an approximately 1,700-kilometre pipeline network designed to improve fuel distribution to neighbouring countries, including Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The President of Namibia, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah attended the launch, underscoring the strategic importance of the investment to Namibia’s economic and energy infrastructure development.
With construction expected to take approximately 18 to 20 months, the project is designed to reduce transportation costs, strengthen regional fuel supply chains and improve access to petroleum products across landlocked Southern African countries. The $2.5 billion investment covers the broader storage and pipeline infrastructure, rather than the tank farm alone. The facility is not yet operational, as construction and regulatory processes are still ahead.
The development represents another significant milestone in Dangote’s growing industrial footprint across Africa and could create new distribution opportunities for refined petroleum products from his Nigerian refinery.