Nigerian billionaire and Dangote Group President, Aliko Dangote, has entered into a $660 million partnership with Ethiopia and Djibouti to develop a major refined petroleum products pipeline linking the two East African countries.
The project, announced on Thursday by a spokesperson in the office of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, is expected to establish a 120-kilometre pipeline connecting Damerjog in Djibouti with Dewele in Ethiopia, alongside large-scale storage facilities in both countries.
According to the announcement, the pipeline is expected to become operational within 18 months and is designed to improve the movement of refined petroleum products along the strategic Ethiopia-Djibouti transport corridor.
Abiy, who announced the project on X, said it would be developed through a partnership between Ethiopian Investment Holdings and Dangote Group.
The project will include approximately 375,000 cubic metres of petroleum storage capacity at Damerjog in Djibouti and another 800,000 cubic metres at Dewele in Ethiopia, bringing the combined storage capacity to about 1.175 million cubic metres.
The Ethiopian government said the infrastructure is expected to reduce logistics costs and delays associated with the movement of petroleum products while strengthening energy security and improving supply-chain resilience in both countries.
Abiy made the announcement during an official visit to Djibouti, where he met with Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh alongside Dangote.
The latest investment further expands Dangote Group’s growing presence in East Africa, particularly in the energy and industrial sectors.
Dangote Group is already involved in several projects in Ethiopia, including a $4 billion fertiliser project and power plant, as well as a polypropylene packaging facility.
The new pipeline project also comes as Dangote intensifies its energy-related investments across the region, with the Nigerian industrialist expected to join the Kenyan government next week for the groundbreaking of a proposed 700,000-barrel-per-day crude oil refinery in Lamu.
The planned Kenyan refinery would represent another major expansion of Dangote’s petroleum interests beyond Nigeria and further position the group as a significant player in Africa’s evolving energy infrastructure landscape.
