Key Takeaways
- Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) is providing a $600 million facility to Greenview Fertiliser Corp., Dangote Group's fertiliser holding company, as part of a broader $7 billion expansion programme.
- The programme targets a tripling of Nigeria's urea fertiliser output — from 3 million to 9 million metric tonnes per year — and adds a new 3 MTPA plant in Ethiopia.
- AFC previously co-led a $3 billion syndicated loan for Dangote Refinery and has now received full repayment of its original $300 million term loan to Dangote Industries, redeploying capital at twice the original scale.
- Africa currently imports most of its fertiliser despite holding some of the world's largest natural gas reserves and a quarter of its uncultivated arable land.
- The combined Nigerian and Ethiopian capacity would make Dangote's fertiliser platform the world's largest urea production complex.
AFC Backs Dangote's $7 Billion Fertiliser Expansion
Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has committed $600 million to Greenview Fertiliser Corp., the fertiliser holding entity of Dangote Group, as part of a $7 billion capacity expansion programme that will significantly scale up urea production across two African countries. The deal marks one of the largest single financing commitments in the continent's agricultural inputs sector and builds on a multi-year relationship between AFC and the Dangote Group across major industrial projects.
The expansion is designed to increase Nigeria's urea output from 3 million metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 9 MTPA, while simultaneously establishing a new 3 MTPA production facility in Ethiopia, building out the continent's domestic supply base for a critical agricultural input.
“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. 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,” said Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited.
Nigeria Capacity to Triple; Ethiopia Plant Added
Combined across both countries, the programme is projected to bring total new urea capacity to 9 MTPA in Nigeria and 3 MTPA in Ethiopia. Once complete, the expanded platform would represent the world's largest fertiliser complex, positioning the continent as both a domestic supplier and an exporter to regional and international markets.
The announcement comes at a time when disruptions to global supply chains have brought renewed attention to Africa's dependence on imported fertiliser. Despite holding significant natural gas reserves — a primary feedstock for urea — and vast tracts of uncultivated arable land, the continent has historically relied on imports to meet its agricultural input needs. Analysts have pointed to this gap as a key constraint on agricultural productivity and food security across the region.
AFC's Track Record with Dangote Group
The $600 million commitment reflects a deliberate strategy by AFC of providing early-stage risk capital and recycling proceeds into the next phase of large-scale projects once initial assets reach stable operations. The corporation previously served as co-coordinating bank on a $3 billion syndicated loan for Dangote Refinery. AFC has also received full repayment of a foundational $300 million senior term loan to Dangote Industries Limited — the facility that helped bring the refinery from initial concept to operational reality. The new fertiliser commitment is double that original figure.
AFC also partnered with Access Bank in 2024 to provide Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE's first working capital facility, supporting crude procurement during commissioning.
“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,” said Samaila Zubairu, President & CEO of AFC.
Why Africa's Fertiliser Gap Matters
The investment sits within a broader set of priorities that AFC has identified as essential to long-term economic growth on the continent, including energy, transport, logistics, industrial processing, and food systems. The corporation continues to back projects designed to expand Africa's ability to produce, process, and distribute goods domestically while also growing exports.
For African agriculture, increased domestic fertiliser supply carries direct implications for input costs and crop yields. Reducing import dependency on fertiliser — particularly urea — could lower the exposure of farmers across sub-Saharan Africa to global commodity price swings and supply disruptions, supporting more stable growing conditions for a continent where smallholder farming remains the backbone of food production.
