Dangote named African Energy Person of the Year as refinery expansion gathers pace

 

Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote has been named the African Energy Chamber’s 2026 African Energy Person of the Year, with the industry group citing his investment in refining, infrastructure and African industrial capacity.

The chamber said the award recognised Dangote’s role in strengthening African energy security, infrastructure and domestic industrial capacity. It highlighted the Dangote Petroleum Refinery near Lagos as the centrepiece of that strategy.

The complex, described by the chamber as the world’s largest single-train refinery, has increased processing capacity from its original 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) to about 700,000 bpd and produces gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel and other petroleum products.

The African Energy Chamber called the refinery “a macroeconomic game-changer for Nigeria”, saying it had helped reduce dependence on imported refined products and increase Nigeria’s role as a petroleum-product exporter. It said Nigeria’s seaborne petroleum-product imports fell from nearly 400,000 bpd in 2023 to less than 130,000 bpd in the second quarter of 2026, while exports to Europe reached about 130,000 bpd during the quarter.

Dangote Petroleum Refinery launched an initial public offering in September comprising 4.1bn ordinary shares at NGN525 each, seeking about NGN2.15 trillion ($1.6bn). The offer opened on September 14 and is scheduled to close on October 13, with trading expected to begin on the Nigerian Exchange in late November.

The refinery reported net profit of $1.82bn in the first half of 2026 on revenue of more than $13bn, reversing a $476mn full-year loss in 2025.

The offering has also drawn scrutiny over valuation and ownership concentration. The Financial Times described the IPO as a test for African capital markets while noting that the offer values the refinery at roughly $48bn-$50bn and places only about 3.3% of enlarged share capital in the public offer.

The IPO comes alongside a $14.3bn expansion programme intended to double refinery capacity to 1.4mn bpd by 2029. The chamber said basic engineering had been completed, almost all detailed engineering work was finished and most equipment had been ordered.

Beyond Nigeria, Dangote is pursuing a planned 700,000-bpd refinery in Lamu, Kenya, while the group is also participating in a planned $660mn refined-products pipeline linking Djibouti and Ethiopia. Dangote said on September 29 that a Kenyan land-rights ruling would not halt the Lamu groundbreaking, although site activity could be constrained pending an October 14 hearing.

These projects fit the wider industrial strategy highlighted by the chamber, which said Dangote has focused on increasing domestic processing and manufacturing rather than relying on exports of raw materials and imports of finished products, with investments spanning cement, fertiliser, logistics and energy infrastructure.

By IntelliNews

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More than 80 reported abducted in Nigeria as police find human remains

More than 80 people have been reported missing in Nigeria after being abducted by armed gangs, a media report said, as authorities announced the discovery of human remains suspected to belong to victims of kidnapping in the southeastern state of Abia.

The AFP news agency reported on Monday that at least 87 people, mostly women, were missing after two separate weekend attacks.

At least 47 farmers were abducted by armed men while harvesting peanuts in the northern Niger State on Saturday, while 40 women were kidnapped in the neighbouring state of Zamfara on Sunday, the agency reported, citing two security reports and a local source.

The kidnappings in the Mariga area of Niger and Yargada in Zamfara are the latest attacks by criminal gangs who specialise in ransom kidnappings and cattle rustling. Locally known as “bandits”, they regularly carry out bloody raids on villages, killing residents and torching homes after looting them.

Separately, police in Abia announced in a statement on Sunday that they found 28 human skulls and bones ”suspected to be [of kidnapped] victims”, after raiding camps linked to criminal groups in the forests.

In a statement on X, the police said suspects at the scene had fled and added that “efforts are intensified to apprehend the fleeing suspects”.

Mass abductions for ransom have become common in parts of northwestern and north-central Nigeria, with armed gangs frequently holding abductees until they are paid large sums of money.

In August, gunmen abducted as many as 600 worshippers during Friday prayers at a mosque in Dekera village in the north-central Niger State.

According to research from SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based consultancy, armed groups raised some 7.8 billion naira (nearly $6m) in ransom payments between July 2025 and June 2026, more than triple the 2.6 billion naira paid during the same period last year.

The latest wave of kidnappings comes a few months ahead of the January presidential elections, in which security, along with the rising cost of living, is set to be a major issue.

President Bola Tinubu has faced growing criticism over lax security.

Residents of Niger State protested last Monday over the abduction of hundreds of people who, they said, remained in captivity a month after gunmen attacked several communities in one of the country’s largest mass kidnappings.

Al Jazeera

Related story: Terrorism, kidnapping choke trade lifeline linking Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon

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Dozens kidnapped in 2 weekend attacks in northern Nigeria

More than 80 people were abducted by armed gangs in two separate attacks on Saturday and Sunday in northern Nigeria, the latest mass kidnappings for ransom to rock the country.

On Saturday, at least 47 farmers were abducted by armed gangs while harvesting peanuts in Niger state, and on Sunday, 40 women were kidnapped in the neighbouring state of Zamfara, according to two security reports seen by AFP and a local source.

Gunmen on motorcycles -- members of gangs specialising in ransom kidnappings and cattle rustling, locally known as "bandits" -- have for years terrorised rural communities in northwestern and central Nigeria.

These groups regularly carry out bloody raids on villages, killing residents and torching homes after looting them.

A local source said the 47 farmers, most of them women, were taken from their farms in Rimi, an agricultural community in the Mariga area of Niger state.

The women kidnapped on Sunday were taken from Yargada, in the Gusau area of Zamfara, according to a security report prepared for the UN and seen by AFP.

Kidnapping has become a key source of income for criminal groups in Africa's most populous nation, particularly for jihadists and bandit gangs.

AFP

Terrorism, kidnapping choke trade lifeline linking Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon

Kidnappings, assassinations and other attacks have surged over the past year along Cameroon’s national highway linking the capital Yaoundé in the south to Kousséri, the northern border town with Chad. Boko Haram factions target passengers and freight trucks almost daily, despite the heavy military presence along this vital regional trade route. As the 2026 rainy season sets in, already-poor road conditions further threaten travel and commerce.

The Maroua-Kousséri-N’Djamena corridor serves as a lifeline for landlocked Chad, Nigerian exporters and Cameroonian communities living along this stretch of road. Cameroon’s Douala port is vital for Chad’s supply lines, with trade between the two countries dependent on goods moving from the port to N’Djamena. Extensive formal trade flows combine with a massive informal sector valued at over CFA 174 billion ($303 million) for Cameroon, dominated by foodstuffs and livestock.

Insecurity has intensified and become more complex along this route for three main reasons.

The first is collaboration between criminals and terrorists in kidnapping and human trafficking, fuelled by an influx of weapons and ammunition in the region. Opportunists collude with Boko Haram factions and pass on information about potential targets for this lucrative crime.

For instance, on 14 August 2025, suspected Boko Haram fighters abducted 11 coach passengers near Zigagué on the Maroua-Kousséri route. They were freed a week later following a Cameroonian military incursion into Nigeria and the arrest of local accomplices.

Interviews with former hostages and ex-fighters reveal that in the Mora-Waza area, groups of armed bandits, blending in with the local community, kidnap people and sell them on to the Jama’atu Ahlis-Sunna Lidda’Awati Wal-Jihad (JAS) Boko Haram faction. JAS then demands ransom from the victims’ relatives. This suggests a shift from kidnapping to human trafficking, a more complex activity involving both criminals and terrorists.

The second reason for growing security threats is renewed insurgency. Since January 2025, several high-profile attacks by the Islamic State West Africa Province on military posts along the national highway have caused heavy material and human losses for Cameroon’s army. These setbacks created opportunities for kidnapping and banditry to expand.

Third is poor road conditions, especially during the June-October rainy season. This facilitates ambushes because travellers can sometimes spend days traversing distances of less than 300 km.

Beyond worsening security, regional economic problems are directly impacting Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria. Reduced cross-border trade represents a huge loss for national economies, as travellers, traders and transporters are forced to use longer, more costly routes that can damage vehicles and delay the timely delivery of goods. Supply chain disruptions cause shortages of basic goods, soaring prices and the doubling of transport fares.

Harassment by police, gendarmerie or customs agents adds to the burden. For example, on a 7 km bypass route between Yagoua (Cameroon) and Bongor (Chad), 17 checkpoints were counted. After protests by carriers and road users, Chadian authorities reduced the number of checkpoints on their side of the border in May. In Cameroon, truck drivers allege there are more checkpoints on the road passing through Maga than on the entire national highway.

Efforts to rehabilitate the Mora-Kousséri section of the highway are commendable, but security remains a concern. The route lies close to Nigeria’s Borno State, the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency. While the Cameroonian side is dotted with villages all the way to Kousséri, Nigeria’s section is a vast uninhabited area serving as a refuge for Boko Haram and armed bandit groups.

Beyond a defensive military presence along the trade corridor, joint offensive operations (both air and ground) between Cameroon and Nigeria are necessary. Civil-military awareness-raising initiatives could also reduce the infiltration of perpetrators into communities. All of this could form part of the military cooperation agreement signed by the two countries on 16 June 2026 in Yaoundé.

Furthermore, the construction of the 280 km Maga-Kousséri road embankment announced in 2013 would allow traffic to bypass the site of Boko Haram’s attacks. If these road links proved viable, they would reduce the risks and provide economic opportunities for the surrounding communities.

For the time being, governments of the affected countries should alleviate the difficulties encountered on alternative routes, particularly through Chad, starting with reducing checkpoints and roadside harassment.

Célestin Delanga is a Research Officer and Remadji Hoinathy is a Senior Researcher in the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) regional office for West Africa, Sahel, Lake Chad Basin and Central Africa.

By Celestin Delanga and Hoinathy Remadji, Premium Times