Nigerian oil firms expand new markets in Africa, Caribbean Islands 

….as opportunities open up,  Aliko Dangote leads fresh refinery push in East Africa 

By AYOOLA OLAOLUWA 

Nigerian oil companies are rapidly extending their influence beyond the country’s borders, launching an aggressive expansion drive that is reshaping Africa’s upstream and downstream petroleum landscape and opening new energy corridors across the Caribbean, Business Hallmark’s findings have revealed.

The fresh continental push comes amid rising demand for refined petroleum products across sub-Saharan Africa, where many countries still lack sufficient refining capacity despite being crude oil producers.

At the forefront of the push is billionaire industrialist, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, whose refinery ambitions are now stretching beyond Nigeria after the successful take-off of his 650,000 barrels-per-day refinery in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos.

Speaking at the recent “Africa We Build” summit in Nairobi, Kenya organised by Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), the Kano-born billionaire announced plans to build a new 650,000 barrels-per-day refinery in East Africa in partnership with governments across the sub region.

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New Initiative

According to Dangote, the proposed refinery, originally planned for the port city of Tanga in Tanzania, will serve a regional market spanning Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, using shared infrastructure to lower costs and improve efficiency.

Citing his experience in delivering the 650,000bpd Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company in Lagos, Nigeria, Dangote expressed confidence in the feasibility of the proposed project.

“I can give commitment to the presidents here today that if they support the refinery, we will build the identical one that we have in Nigeria, a 650,000 barrels-per-day refinery.

“The discussions are still early, but it will work. There is nothing that can stop it. We have done it before in Nigeria, and that is why we are taking this bold step again”, Dangote  stated.

He assured that the East African refinery could be delivered within four to five years once agreements are reached.

“My commitment is that if we agree within three or four governments in the region, we will lead the process and ensure that the refinery is built within the next four or five years”.

The richest black man in the world also revealed plans to open up ownership of his refinery business to African investors, promising dollar-denominated returns.

“We want all Africans to invest. This is a continental asset, and we will be paying dividends in dollars. It will deepen the market and give Africans a stake in critical infrastructure”, Dangote assured.

Speaking on the sidelines of the summit, Kenya’s President, William Ruto, confirmed that discussions to establish a joint refinery in Tanzania have reached  advanced stage between Dangote and regional partners.

“We are going to have a joint refinery in Tanga to benefit all of us because that refinery will take crude from the DRC, Kenya, South Sudan, and Uganda.

“We are in talks with Dangote to see how we can collaborate on building a refinery in the region.

“This is part of our broader strategy to strengthen energy security and reduce dependence on imported petroleum products”, the Kenyan President stated.

He further added that the project would be supported by a pipeline linking Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa to Tanga, ensuring a steady supply of crude to the facility.

Meanwhile, the $17 billion project, originally proposed for Tanga, Tanzania, is now leaning towards Mombasa, a port city in Kenya, after Dangote publicly announced that he prefers building the mega refinery Kenya.

According to Dangote,  Mombasa city has a much larger and deeper port, which makes it more feasible.

Besides having a larger seaport, Dangote argued that Kenya offers a robust fuel market because it is a larger economy that consumes more fuel than Tanzania.

Race For New Market

Asides Aliko Dangote, other Nigerian billionaires like Wale Tinubu and Kola Karim are extending their tentacles beyond the nation’s shore.

In March 2026, Oando signed a production sharing contract (PSC) for Block KON-13 in Angola, marking a long-awaited entry into one of Africa’s top oil producers and deepening the shift toward indigenous energy players on the continent.

Announced by Angola’s national petroleum regulator, the National Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG), the deal granted Oando a majority stake of 45 per cent stake in the onshore block in the Kwanza Basin and makes it the operator.

BH checks revealed that block KON-13 is a high-potential asset with a proven estimate of between 770 million and 1.1 billion barrels of oil.

Already, two wells in the block  drilled to about 3,000 metres have yielded hydrocarbons in commercial quantity.

Available data obtained by our correspondent shows that the  agreement represents Oando’s first operated upstream venture outside Nigeria.

Before the Angola venture, the Wale Tinubu-led Oando Plc,  had in March 2025, won a contract to operate the Pointe-à-Pierre Refinery in the Caribbean Island country of Trinidad and Tobago.

The refinery, a key energy asset in the region with a processing capacity of 175,000 barrels per day and a Nelson Complexity Index of 8.0, plays a central role in Trinidad and Tobago’s oil industry.

Speaking on the development, the Group Chief Executive of Oando PLC, Wale Tinubu, described it as a major milestone for the Nigerian  company.

“We are honoured by the confidence the Trinidadian government has placed in us with this award. This strategic investment aligns with our long-term vision of expanding into high-potential regions and growing our operational footprint, leveraging our vast technical expertise and global partnerships to finance projects.

“We recognise the significance of this opportunity and look forward to working with all stakeholders to deliver maximum value for all parties involved”, Tinubu had said back in 2025.

Just as Oando did in Trinidad and Tobago and Angola, Nigerian energy conglomerate, Shoreline Energy, expanded its international footprint in February 2026, by acquiring already producing oil assets in the United States, a strategic move aimed at exporting African expertise to the global market while simultaneously targeting a production increase to 100,000 barrels per day in Nigeria.

The acquisitions span several U.S. states and give the oil firm owned by Oyo State born billionaire, Kola Karim, immediate barrels rather than a long wait for exploration upside.

While Shoreline did not disclose the purchase price or the names of the assets, the properties which are already producing and were selected for opportunities to lift output through routine workovers, are expected to broaden its revenue base.

Shoreline came into prominence in the early 2010s, when it secured Oil Mining Lease (OML) 30, one of the transactions that helped seed a new generation of indigenous operators.

Apart from its recent foray into the American energy market, Shoreline’s CEO, Kola Karim, disclosed that the firm has a wider African expansion plan that reaches beyond Nigeria into Namibia, Angola, Mozambique and Côte d’Ivoire.

In the same vein, a Nigerian oil firm, Marginal Energy Limited, secured a $225 million offshore petroleum licence deal from the Sierra Leonean government in 2026.

Also, a wholly Nigerian conglomerate, Sahara Group, currently operates major downstream and trading businesses across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East through its subsidiary Sahara Energy.

BH checks revealed that the company currently has fuel storage and supply operations in countries including Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Singapore.

Though, public records of full foreign upstream and downstream contracts by Nigerian firms are limited, these recent deals are some of the examples of Nigerian indigenous oil companies foray abroad.

Industry players, who spoke on the development said the expansion wave reflects a growing confidence among indigenous Nigerian firms seeking to dominate fuel supply chains across underserved markets in Africa and island economies long dominated by European, Asian and American oil giants.

Strategic Positioning

“What I think is happening is that Nigerian firms are positioning themselves to fill the vacuum left by departing IOCs, leveraging proximity, trade agreements and growing financial muscle to challenge long-established interests.

“The trend, no doubt, will significantly boost Nigeria’s economic influence across Africa and the Atlantic corridor and help to  transform local oil companies into regional energy powerhouses”, said Ademola Koyejo, an oil and gas expert based in Lagos.

Koyejo, however, warned that regulatory instability, currency volatility and political risks in some of the host nations may test the sustainability of the ambitious expansion drive.