The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has initiated plans to establish large-scale fuel storage facilities in Namibia, with a projected capacity of at least 1.6 million barrels of gasoline and diesel.
According to two industry sources who spoke to Reuters on Wednesday, the project is part of the refinery’s broader strategy to expand its footprint beyond Nigeria by supplying refined petroleum products to key markets in Southern Africa.
The move underscores the refinery’s ambition to dominate fuel supply in Africa and beyond, potentially reshaping energy trade flows in the region and boosting access to refined products for southern African nations.
The 650,000 barrels per day refinery, built at a cost of $20bn by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, started operations last year and has been ramping up production and seeking new markets.
The sources, who were briefed on the development, said the storage tanks would be used to supply gasoline and diesel to Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Dangote was also considering supplying fuel to the southern Democratic Republic of Congo, the sources said. A Dangote spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
It was not immediately clear how much the project would cost, but the second source said construction of the storage tanks would begin shortly in the port city of Walvis Bay.
A Namibia Ports Authority official confirmed the plans and said the storage tanks would be housed within the Walvis Bay harbour. A source said last month that a Dangote gasoline cargo was heading to Asia, the first time the refinery was selling gasoline outside the West Africa region.
Dangote refinery says that at full capacity, the plant would produce enough to meet demand in Nigeria, which has sharply cut imports of processed fuels, and export the rest.
Recall that earlier this year, the refinery commenced building eight more tanks in its bid to have enough storage for imported crude oil. A report by Africa Report has it that the refinery is ramping up its storage capacity by 6.29 million barrels, equivalent to 1 billion litres.
The building of eight additional tanks will see crude storage capacity at the $20bn refinery jump by 41.67 per cent to 3.4 billion litres.
