The African Export‑Import Bank (Afreximbank) has signed a US$1.35 billion financing agreement as Lead Arranger in a US$4 billion syndicated refinancing facility for Dangote Industries Limited, the industrial giant behind Africa’s largest petroleum refinery complex – the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals Complex.
The financing, one of the largest ever arranged by an African institution, will refinance capital expenditures on the cost of constructing the single‑train refinery with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, cementing the refinery’s position as a continental energy anchor.
Dangote Industries Limited is one of Africa’s leading diversified and fully integrated industrial conglomerates with vibrant operations in Nigeria and across Africa in several sectors including cement, sugar, salt, condiments, packaging, energy, port operations, automotive, fertiliser, petroleum refining and petrochemicals.
Speaking in Abuja where the agreement was inked, Professor Benedict Oramah, President & Chairman of Board of Directors at Afreximbank, said:
“With this landmark deal, we once again demonstrate that Africa’s development can only be meaningfully financed from within. It is only when African institutions lead the way that others can follow. The journey to utilise African resources for its own economic transformation is well underway. Through the Bank’s funding support, we are enhancing the capacity of the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Industries Ltd to produce and supply high quality refined petroleum products to the Nigerian market, as well as for export to the entire continent and the world. Our energy security is in sight.”
Afreximbank’s US$1.35 billion commitment represents the largest share of the syndicated facility. The remaining US$2.65 billion was provided by a group of African and international financial institutions, although their identities were not disclosed.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries, reaffirmed the strategic alignment with Afreximbank.
“Afreximbank’s contribution to this milestone financing underscores our shared vision to industrialize Africa from within. This refinancing strengthens our balance sheet and accelerates with ease the refinery’s suppy of high-quality refined petroleum products across Africa. The syndicated facility attracted strong participation from leading African and international financial institutions, reflecting enduring confidence in Africa’s industrial potential and Dangote’s vision in transforming Africa”.
Since operations began in February 2024, Afreximbank has provided continuous support for the refinery, including financing crude supply and product offtake, helping maintain uninterrupted operations.
The refinery project, located in Lekki, Lagos, is billed as the world’s largest single‑train facility and is pivotal in efforts to reduce Africa’s reliance on imported refined fuel, estimated at US$30 billion annually. Afreximbank has itself launched a US$3 billion Revolving Intra‑African Oil Import Finance Programme to support locally‑produced refined fuels across the continent.
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra- and extra-African trade. For over 30 years, the Bank has been deploying innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialisation and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa.
Afreximbank has positioned itself as a leading financier of transformative African infrastructure. Between 2020 and mid‑2025, the Bank invested approximately US$120 billion across Africa and the Caribbean, including over US$4 billion specifically into Dangote Refinery and related petrochemical initiatives
For Professor Oramah and Afreximbank, the facility is part of what they call an “African best practice” development model—where African capital is used strategically to transform African economies.
The deal is widely regarded as a milestone achievement in African finance: an African multilateral bank leading one of the largest syndicated lending transactions in the continent’s history, entirely devoted to supporting Africa’s industrial ascendancy.
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