The Tanzanian government has stepped up its push to attract fresh investments from the Dangote Group, seeking to deepen the Nigerian conglomerate’s footprint in fertiliser, energy and industrial infrastructure as Dar es Salaam accelerates its economic transformation.
Tanzania’s Minister of State in the President’s Office responsible for Planning and Investment, Prof. Kitila A. Mkumbo, made the move during a high-level Tanzanian delegation’s visit to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals in Lagos.
The visit, according to the minister, was designed to follow up on earlier discussions between Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan and Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, on expanding the group’s investments in Tanzania.
Mkumbo said Tanzania was keen to move beyond Dangote’s existing investments and attract new projects capable of transforming key sectors of the economy.
Tanzania Targets Dangote’s Industrial Muscle
Dangote Group already operates what Tanzania describes as the country’s largest cement manufacturing plant, with an investment estimated at $800 million.
The minister said the existing investment had demonstrated Dangote’s capacity to contribute meaningfully to Tanzania’s industrial development, stressing that the government was now interested in replicating that impact across other strategic sectors.
“We have come here to make a follow-up on what they deliberated with our President in terms of further Dangote investments in Tanzania,” Mkumbo said.
He identified fertiliser production and refinery operations as areas of particular interest to Tanzania, describing Dangote’s industrial expertise as critical to strengthening manufacturing capacity and accelerating economic growth across East Africa.
The renewed investment drive comes as Tanzania seeks to position itself as a major industrial and commercial hub in the region, while leveraging private-sector capital and expertise to expand production, create jobs and reduce dependence on imported industrial products.
‘Africa Needs Economic Liberation’
Mkumbo also used the occasion to make a broader case for African economic integration, arguing that political solidarity alone would not deliver the continent’s much-needed transformation.
According to him, Africa must now shift decisively toward industrialisation, intra-African investment and economic integration, particularly under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“Africa now needs economic liberation, and that can only come through industrialisation,” he declared.
He described Dangote as one of Africa’s foremost industrialists, noting that the group’s growing investments outside Nigeria demonstrate the potential of African companies to drive development across the continent.
The Tanzanian government, he said, wants to work closely with Dangote Group as part of a wider Pan-African industrialisation agenda that would expand manufacturing capacity and strengthen regional value chains.
Dangote Refinery And Africa’s Energy Security
The Tanzanian delegation also highlighted the strategic importance of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in strengthening Africa’s energy security.
Mkumbo argued that Africa’s vulnerability to international energy shocks underscored the urgent need for the continent to expand its own refining capacity.
He cited recent disruptions and tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, which have contributed to volatility in global oil markets, as evidence of the dangers of excessive dependence on external energy supplies.
According to him, large-scale refineries such as the Dangote facility could help African countries shield consumers and businesses from global energy shocks by increasing domestic and regional supplies of refined petroleum products.
He stressed that affordable and reliable energy remains fundamental to economic development, industrial production and improved living standards.
The minister maintained that expanding refining capacity across Africa would not only strengthen energy security but also help lower energy costs and support millions of people whose livelihoods depend on reliable fuel and power supplies.
A New Phase Of Nigeria-Tanzania Economic Ties
The Lagos visit signals a potentially significant new phase in economic relations between Tanzania and Dangote Group, with the East African nation seeking to tap the Nigerian conglomerate’s expertise beyond cement.
From fertiliser and energy to industrial infrastructure, Tanzania is positioning Dangote as a strategic partner in its long-term development drive.
For Dangote Group, the engagement could further consolidate its emergence as a major Pan-African industrial player, with investments increasingly extending beyond Nigeria into critical sectors across the continent.
The latest discussions are expected to feed into ongoing engagements between the Tanzanian government and Dangote Group as both sides explore new investment opportunities and ways of advancing industrialisation, economic integration and Africa’s self-reliance.
