Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote is expanding his energy footprint in East Africa through a proposed $660 million refined petroleum products pipeline linking Djibouti and Ethiopia.
A spokesperson in the office of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed disclosed the project to Reuters on Thursday, September 24, 2026, saying the 120-kilometre pipeline will connect a storage terminal at Damerjog on Djibouti’s coast to a receiving facility at Dewele on the Ethiopian side of the border.
The project will include storage facilities at both ends, with planned capacity of about 375,000 cubic metres at Damerjog and 800,000 cubic metres at Dewele. The combined capacity will therefore be about 1.175 million cubic metres, while the Ethiopian government said the pipeline is expected to be operational within 18 months.
Abiy announced the project on Thursday, September 24, 2026, after meeting Djibouti President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh and Dangote in Djibouti. The Ethiopian government said the project is intended to strengthen the supply and distribution of refined petroleum products between the two countries.
The pipeline will be developed through a partnership between Ethiopian Investment Holdings, Ethiopia’s sovereign wealth fund, and Dangote Group, according to the Ethiopian government.
The project targets a major trade route for Ethiopia, a landlocked country that depends heavily on Djibouti for access to international markets. The World Bank said in a July 20, 2023 statement that more than 95% of Ethiopia’s trade by volume moves through the Addis-Djibouti corridor.
The World Bank also said the corridor carries about 16.5 million tonnes of Ethiopian trade annually, with freight largely transported by road. Its 2023 project documents identified poor road conditions, congestion, delays and other logistics constraints as challenges affecting the corridor.
A dedicated petroleum pipeline could provide an alternative to transporting refined fuel by road along part of the corridor, although the developers have not disclosed the expected volume of products to be transported or quantified the savings the project could generate.
The investment adds to Dangote Group’s growing presence in Ethiopia. The group has previously announced major investments in the country, including a fertiliser project and associated industrial infrastructure.
The latest deal also comes as Dangote expands his energy interests beyond Nigeria. Reuters reported on September 24, 2026, that Dangote and the Kenyan government are expected to break ground on a proposed 700,000-barrel-per-day crude oil refinery in Lamu.
For Ethiopia, the planned pipeline would create dedicated infrastructure for moving refined petroleum products from Djibouti into the country. However, details on the project’s financing structure, construction start date and the partners’ ownership shares have not been disclosed.
