Nigeria's Dangote Group considers energy partnership with Zambia

Nigeria’s Dangote Group is in discussions with Zambia about a possible major partnership in the energy sector.

President Hakainde Hichilema met with the group’s CEO, Aliko Dangote, in Lusaka on Wednesday.

Hichilema says the meeting focused on developing the group’s activities in Zambia, with the aim of fostering job creation, industrial growth, and economic diversification.

Dangote – who is Africa’s richest man – plays a key role in the industrialisation of the continent.

His business empire spans more than 10 countries covering the cement, sugar, salt, oil refining, and petrochemical sectors.

The group’s $19 billion refinery in the Nigerian city of Lagos is poised to reshape the African energy landscape.

Dangote’s potential expansion into Zambia’s energy sector is an important step for the country’s investment portfolio, which is benefitting from the government’s economic reform programme.

Hichilema says his administration is committed to maintaining a stable, transparent, and  investor-friendly environment that will allow the private sector to thrive.