FRI SEPT 25 2026-theGBJournal| Dangote Industries Limited has begun work on a major petroleum products storage terminal in Djibouti, deepening the Nigerian conglomerate’s role in building an integrated energy and logistics network linking the Horn of Africa with regional markets.
The project, launched at the Damerjog Industrial Park under the high patronage of Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh, will comprise a 375,000-cubic-metre petroleum products storage terminal with an annual throughput capacity of 5 million tonnes.
The facility valued at $160 million will sit on an 80-hectare site and connect directly to the Damerjog-Nagad railway corridor and pipeline, while a common-user manifold will link it to the Damerjog Liquid Bulk Port (DLBP).
The combination of storage, port, rail and pipeline infrastructure is intended to create a connected supply chain for petroleum products, reducing reliance on road transport and strengthening Djibouti’s position as a regional logistics and energy hub.
The ceremony brought together Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Dangote Group Founder and CEO Aliko Dangote, Afreximbank President and Chairman George Elombi, and Africa Finance Corporation President and CEO Samaila Zubairu.
For Dangote, the project represents an extension beyond its Nigerian industrial base into a strategically important East African logistics corridor.
The company has already established itself as one of Africa’s largest industrial investors through businesses spanning cement, fertiliser, refining and petrochemicals.
Dangote, addressing the ceremony, stressed the importance of Africans taking the lead in developing the continent.
He commended the Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority for investing in the oil jetty and acknowledged Afreximbank and Africa Finance Corporation as financial institutions supporting projects developed by African investors.
The project also highlights the growing role of African development finance institutions in financing infrastructure designed to connect markets across national borders.
Elombi said Afreximbank had provided $120 million to finance development of the Damerjog Liquid Bulk Port jetty.
He said the bank was also ready to support financing of the 90-km RN18 corridor, including its 7-km connection to Biciidley Airport, as well as renewable energy projects in Djibouti.
The infrastructure is particularly significant for landlocked Ethiopia, whose trade depends heavily on access through Djibouti.
Prime Minister Abiy described the project as a “win-win opportunity” for Djibouti and Ethiopia, particularly amid challenges affecting the Red Sea region.
He said the integration of ports, transport corridors and pipelines would create a more connected regional system, reduce truck travel distances and improve the competitiveness of trade.
For Djibouti, the development fits a broader strategy of leveraging its location at the entrance to the Red Sea and its proximity to Ethiopia to become a major regional logistics centre.
President Guelleh said the project would reduce pressure on road corridors while strengthening regional energy resources. He also pointed to the potential for job creation, skills transfer and the development of local capabilities.
Guelleh said Djibouti’s geostrategic position carried a responsibility to contribute to greater regional integration and shared prosperity, particularly through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The project is also arriving as Djibouti’s Damerjog liquid bulk infrastructure moves toward commercial activity.
The first LPG vessel scheduled to call at the Damerjog Liquid Bulk Port is from African Gaz and Oil Ltd (AGOL), whose shareholders include AP Møller Capital, and is planned for Oct. 28.
Taken together, the developments point to an emerging infrastructure chain: vessels can access the liquid bulk port, petroleum products can move through the common-user manifold into storage, while rail, pipeline and road links can distribute products into Djibouti and neighbouring markets.
The Dangote terminal therefore sits at the intersection of several infrastructure investments rather than functioning simply as a standalone storage facility.
Its connection to the port, railway and pipeline infrastructure gives the project a potentially broader role in regional fuel distribution and trade.
The involvement of Dangote, Afreximbank and AFC also underscores an increasingly prominent model of African capital financing African infrastructure, with private industrial investment being combined with development-finance support and government-backed transport infrastructure.
For Ethiopia, the project could strengthen access to maritime-linked energy infrastructure without requiring every petroleum cargo to move by road from the port.
For Djibouti, it adds another industrial and logistics asset to an economy whose strategic importance is closely tied to its ports and transport links.
And for Dangote, the Djibouti investment places Africa’s largest indigenous industrial groups at the centre of a cross-border infrastructure project extending the company’s footprint into the Horn of Africa.
The broader significance is therefore not only the 375,000 cubic metres of storage or the 5-million-tonne annual throughput.
It is the attempt to connect port capacity, petroleum storage, pipelines, railways, roads and regional markets into a single logistics system at a time when disruptions and security challenges around the Red Sea have increased the importance of resilient regional supply chains.
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