Dangote Signs $350m Deal with India’s EIL to Scale up Lagos Refinery

Dangote Group has sealed a $350 million agreement with India’s Engineers India Ltd (EIL) to drive a major expansion of the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Complex in Lagos,an upgrade the company says will deepen Nigeria’s industrial base and cut Africa’s dependence on imported refined fuels.

EIL, a state-owned engineering firm, said the contract renews its involvement on the Lagos project and will cover project delivery roles, including Project Management Consultant (PMC) and Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management (EPCM) consultant—similar to the responsibilities it handled during the refinery’s initial build, which was commissioned in 2024.

At the heart of the upgrade is a plan to add a second processing train, lifting refining capacity from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day. Output from the expanded facility is expected to focus on Euro VI–compliant fuels, positioning the complex among the world’s largest single-location refinery and petrochemicals hubs once completed.

The refinery sits inside the Lekki Free Zone and is estimated to have cost about $19 billion, ranking it among the most capital-intensive industrial projects ever executed in Africa. Officially inaugurated in May 2023, the complex has been ramping up in phases due to its size and technical complexity. By early 2024, it began producing diesel and aviation fuel, and later added petrol—an operational milestone for Nigeria, which has historically imported much of its refined fuel despite being Africa’s largest crude oil producer.

The existing plant is already described as the world’s largest single-train refinery and an integrated refinery–petrochemicals complex, producing Euro-V quality gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and polypropylene. As part of its broader capacity build-out, Dangote also trained 150 engineers in India ahead of full operational readiness.

Beyond fuels, the expansion plan places strong emphasis on petrochemicals—particularly polypropylene. Dangote is looking to raise polypropylene output from 830,000 tonnes per annum to 2.4 million tonnes per annum by revamping its current Polypropylene Unit (PPU) and installing an additional 1.2 million tonnes-per-annum PPU. The plan also includes a 750 kTPA UOP Oleflex unit designed to strengthen propylene feedstock supply.

EIL described the renewed contract as a vote of confidence in its ability to execute projects of significant scale, noting that it will bring deep engineering experience and a global delivery model into the next phase of the Dangote complex.

Dangote Group, Nigeria’s largest multinational conglomerate, operates across multiple sectors—including oil and gas, petrochemicals, fertiliser, cement, sugar and food processing—across 17 African countries. The refinery remains central to its energy and industrial ambitions for Nigeria.

While issues such as crude supply, pricing and regulation continue to shape the operating environment, the company argues the refinery is already easing pressure on fuel availability, reducing import exposure, and strengthening Nigeria’s case as a future exporter of refined products across West and Central Africa.