Outgoing President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has described the $24 billion Dangote Petrochemicals Complex in Lagos as clear evidence of Africa’s ability to draw substantial global investment into large-scale, competitive industrial ventures.
Speaking at the 2025 Standard Chartered Bank Africa Summit in Lagos, Adesina remarked that the refinery, now delivering petroleum and petrochemical products to Nigeria, other African countries and international markets, demonstrated the continent’s viability and profitability for serious investors.
He stressed the importance of providing large-scale financing to African multinational corporations in order to establish robust industrial platforms, which would position the continent as a major force in sectors where it holds strategic advantage.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, a 650,000 barrels-per-day (BPD) integrated facility, is located in the Lekki Free Zone, Ibeju Lekki, Lagos. It stands as Africa’s largest oil refinery and the biggest single-train facility globally.
In support of Adesina’s remarks, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) announced on Tuesday that it had signed a $1.35 billion financing deal in favour of the refinery. The loan forms part of a broader $4 billion syndicated funding arrangement for Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Africa’s largest industrial group.
Afreximbank noted that the financing, one of the largest syndicated loans in recent African financial markets, will refinance the capital already committed to constructing the refinery and petrochemicals complex.
Adesina also cited the $20 billion Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in Mozambique as another example of Africa’s capacity to attract foreign capital to large and competitive industrial enterprises. He pointed out that the LNG project secured the continent’s largest foreign direct investment at the time of its structuring.
He referenced other major African corporates, such as Gold Fields Limited, a top-tier gold mining company based in South Africa with a market capitalisation of $17.46 billion, and Naspers Limited, a South African multinational internet and media firm valued at $14.56 billion.
Further examples included Vodacom Group, with a market capitalisation of $12.47 billion, and MTN Group, valued at $10.99 billion.
Adesina also observed that with Africa holding 30 per cent of the world’s known mineral reserves, the continent is poised to influence the trajectory of global energy transition. He pointed to Africa’s substantial deposits of key minerals including cobalt, platinum and manganese, which are essential to the production of electric vehicles, mobile devices, computers and defence systems.
He noted that the scramble to secure access to these critical resources was already influencing global geopolitical alignments on the continent.
