Dangote’s Namibia tank farm is built for bigger regional plan
WALVIS BAY — Aliko Dangote has launched a planned US$2.5 billion fuel storage and pipeline development in Namibia aimed at supplying inland Southern African markets. The investment would combine a 600 million-litre tank farm near Walvis Bay with a regional distribution network serving countries including Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The groundbreaking took place on Wednesday with Namibian President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah in attendance. The facility is still to be built, with Dangote telling reporters that completion was targeted within 18 to 20 months. Its planned storage capacity would be eight times that of Namibia’s existing 75 million-litre National Oil Storage Facility.
For Dangote, the commercial opportunity extends from refining fuel to controlling more of the infrastructure that delivers it to customers. Oxford Economics Africa senior economist Gerrit van Rooyen told Reuters that the project formed part of a strategy to develop African distribution networks for the group’s refined fuel exports and diversify its markets.
The tank farm is planned for a roughly 70-hectare site at Farm 58, about 10 kilometres east of Walvis Bay. Dangote said it would store 360 million litres of diesel and 240 million litres of petrol, supported by truck-loading and dispensing infrastructure.
The proposed pipeline would extend inland towards Otjiwarongo, with connections towards Rundu and Botswana’s Ghanzi and Francistown. The wider distribution network is intended to reach Malawi and southern Democratic Republic of the Congo as well. Final routing and length remain subject to engineering studies, surveys and regulatory approvals.
For Namibia, the development offers a potential expansion of Walvis Bay’s role in regional fuel trade. Project plans envisage reducing dependence on long-distance road haulage, which could ease tanker traffic and improve distribution efficiency. Those benefits remain dependent on construction and the delivery of the proposed pipeline connections.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said the project would remain under presidential oversight until completion, an arrangement intended to support implementation. The next milestones will be translating the announced investment into infrastructure and securing the approvals needed for its regional reach.
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