Nigeria’s Dangote Group is returning to Zimbabwe in a big way, with founder Aliko Dangote announcing plans to invest at least $1 billion across cement, energy and fuel infrastructure. The move marks one of the most significant African-to-African investment pledges Zimbabwe has seen in recent years and underscores how regional giants are positioning for growth in southern Africa’s rebuilding economies.
Dangote revealed the plan in Harare after meeting President Emmerson Mnangagwa, where both sides signed an investment agreement. The package centres on three pillars: a new cement plant, power generation facilities and a petroleum pipeline to move refined products into Zimbabwe from the massive Dangote Refinery in Nigeria.
The deal is effectively a revival of Dangote’s earlier interest in Zimbabwe. In 2015, under the late Robert Mugabe, the group explored building a cement plant and pursuing coal assets but eventually shelved the plans amid regulatory bottlenecks and macroeconomic instability. A decade later, the billionaire says the operating environment has changed, citing greater policy clarity, improved transparency and a more receptive stance towards foreign investors under Mnangagwa’s administration.
From Zimbabwe’s perspective, the timing is strategic. The country is trying to stabilise its power supply, reduce infrastructure gaps and support its mining and construction sectors. A local Dangote Cement plant would increase competition in a market currently dominated by players such as PPC, while easing reliance on imports and foreign currency outflows. Cement demand is expected to rise as the government pursues road, housing and mining projects under its Vision 2030 agenda, and a low-cost continental producer like Dangote is well placed to ride that curve.
The energy and pipeline components are equally important. Zimbabwe routinely struggles with electricity deficits and depends heavily on imported fuel. Dangote’s planned power investments could supply dedicated energy to the industrial complex while feeding excess into the national grid, helping alleviate chronic shortages. Meanwhile, the petroleum pipeline would integrate Zimbabwe more tightly into the regional supply network being built around the 650,000 barrels-per-day Dangote Refinery, which is already eyeing southern Africa as a key export market.
For Dangote Group, the Zimbabwe project fits a broader African expansion narrative. The conglomerate already operates cement plants or import terminals in more than nine African countries and is using the refinery to pivot from being a mainly Nigeria-focused industrial player to a continent-wide energy and infrastructure powerhouse. A successful rollout in Zimbabwe would not only deepen its presence in southern Africa but also send a signal that African capital can drive large-scale industrialisation on the continent, not just foreign multinationals.
Still, execution risk remains. Zimbabwe’s economy is vulnerable to currency swings, debt pressures and policy reversals, all of which have frustrated investors in the past. Regulatory consistency, credible tariff frameworks for power and clear guarantees around repatriation of profits will be crucial to keep the $1 billion pipeline on track.
If the project moves from memorandum to concrete, though, it could become a flagship example of intra-African industrial investment: Nigerian capital, Zimbabwean resources and regional demand combining to reshape supply chains in cement, power and fuel across southern Africa.
