Nigeria’s and Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote is set to construct large-scale fuel storage tanks in Namibia’s Walvis Bay capable of holding at least 1.6 million barrels of gasoline and diesel to supply refined fuel to Southern Africa.
Dangote’s planned storage facilities will support the export of fuel products from his $20 billion refinery in Lagos, the largest in Africa, which began operations in 2023.
The storage tanks will serve as a regional distribution hub for landlocked countries, including Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, helping to reduce dependency on fuel imports from Europe and Asia.
The port of Walvis Bay, located along Namibia’s Atlantic coast, offers a strategic gateway for energy logistics in southern Africa.
“The Dangote refinery is going to build a fuel storage facility here in Walvis Bay,” a senior Namibian port official told The African Dream under condition of anonymity. “The project is at an advanced stage and construction is expected to commence shortly.”
Dangote’s move into Namibia signals growing ambition to expand the refinery’s reach beyond Nigeria’s borders.
In June, the company exported its first gasoline shipment to Europe and Asia, underscoring its readiness to compete in global markets.
The facility in Lagos currently has the capacity to process 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, enough to meet Nigeria’s domestic demand and create surplus for exports.
Namibia is positioning itself as a key logistics and energy hub in southern Africa. T
he partnership with Dangote aligns with the country’s long-term infrastructure and trade development goals, with expectations that the facility will create jobs and stimulate economic activity at the port and beyond.
The Dangote Group has not publicly disclosed the project timeline or investment cost for the Namibian storage facility, but local authorities anticipate that the project will be operational within the next 18 to 24 months.
If completed, the development will significantly strengthen intra-African energy trade, advancing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) objectives of reducing reliance on non-African imports and improving energy self-sufficiency.
