Evidence-Based Review: Dangote Group’s Operationalization of the AFCFTA Protocol on Investment and Building: A Pan-African Industrial Multinational For Economic Sovereignty Across West, East, and Central Africa (Gambia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Congo, Rwanda Case Studies)

Abstract

The Dangote Group is rolling out a landmark $46 billion continental investment pipeline (2026–2028), transitioning from a Nigerian powerhouse into a borderless African multinational. By actively operationalizing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Protocol on Investment, the conglomerate is leveraging single-market provisions to integrate regional value chains and build pan-African economic sovereignty [AUC]. Concurrently, Aliko Dangote’s strategic foresight in constructing the $20 billion Lekki refinery has transformed him into a primary corporate beneficiary of the 2026 US-Iran war [WSJ]. Ramping up production to 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) just as geopolitical hostilities closed the Strait of Hormuz, the Group insulated continental buyers from catastrophic energy shocks while simultaneously expanding its commercial footprint deep into European and global markets [WSJ, S&P]. This review evaluates Dangote’s multi-country pipeline, its intersection with the AfCFTA statutory framework, the operationalization of industrial sovereignty, confirmed local equity structures, and the critical de-risking lessons it offers for local private capital.