Dangote to build $2.5 billion fertiliser facility in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has entered into a partnership with Nigeria’s Dangote Group to establish a $2.5 billion fertiliser plant, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced Thursday on X.

The facility, to be built in Gode, southeastern Ethiopia, will have an annual production capacity of 3 million metric tons.

The project is part of billionaire Aliko Dangote’s broader push to reduce Africa’s heavy reliance on imported fertiliser and improve self-sufficiency in agricultural inputs.

The agreement was signed between state-owned Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH) and Dangote Group. Under the deal, Dangote will hold a 60% stake, while EIH retains a 40% stake.

In a statement posted on X, Dangote described the investment as reflecting a “shared vision to industrialise Africa and achieve food security across the continent.”

Africa imports more than 6 million metric tons of fertiliser each year, a costly reliance that undermines agricultural productivity and leaves farmers vulnerable to global supply shocks.

A trade report by Afreximbank shows that in 2021, the continent’s fertiliser exports were valued at $8.9 billion, more than twice its import bill of $3.7 billion.

This surplus was driven primarily by North African producers, with Morocco and Egypt alone accounting for $6.23 billion, or more than 70% of total exports, underscoring the region’s central role in global supply chains.

That same year, 15 African countries were net exporters of fertiliser, pointing to the continent’s potential to expand intra-African trade. Still, major agricultural markets, such as Ethiopia, Côte d’Ivoire, Zambia, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, remained heavily dependent on imports.