Dangote Projects Ltd, the construction arm of Dangote Industries Limited, has become the world’s largest construction company by construction equipment holdings, with nearly 7,000 pieces of equipment.
The Group Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, Edwin Devakumar, made the assertion during a briefing on Friday when Kenyan President William Ruto visited the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos.
The company initially acquired 2,563 pieces of construction equipment, including 320 cranes, for the refinery project before adding more than 4,000 additional pieces as the group expanded its refinery and fertiliser projects.
Devakumar said the group initially became the second-largest construction company globally after acquiring 2,563 pieces of equipment, including 320 cranes, for the construction of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Devakumar said the large equipment base was built out of necessity because the Nigerian construction industry did not have the capacity required to execute a project of the refinery’s scale.
The group had approached some of the leading construction companies in Nigeria before commencing the refinery project, but they said they lacked the capacity to undertake the work.
The group considered bringing foreign construction companies into the project, but Devakumar said this would have required the companies to ship their equipment into Nigeria and later take it out after completing the project.
The decision to acquire its own equipment therefore allowed Dangote to build the construction capacity required for the refinery and subsequent fertiliser and refinery projects.
The scale of the refinery project meant that acquiring construction equipment alone was not enough, as Dangote also had to develop supporting facilities and capabilities that were not available at the required scale.
Devakumar said the company had to produce its own concrete because ready-mixed concrete was not readily available in Nigeria in the quantities required for the project.
The project also required accommodation and other infrastructure for its workforce, with Dangote building facilities for 50,000 people. At its peak, about 63,000 people were working on the project, while the accommodation infrastructure helped the company isolate workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The refinery site itself was initially largely undeveloped, with more than 70% covered by swamp. Dangote used swamp buggies to clear the area and pumped sand from offshore to raise the site while taking steps to avoid disrupting fishermen operating in the area.
Dangote Group is preparing for another major refining project in Africa, with the groundbreaking for its planned refinery in Lamu, Kenya, scheduled for September 30, 2026.
The planned refinery will include a 1,000 MW power plant, twice the capacity planned for the Lagos facility, with half of the electricity expected to be supplied to the Kenyan government.
Engineers India Limited was appointed under a contract worth more than $450 million to provide project management consultancy and engineering, procurement and construction management services for the refinery and petrochemical complex.
The power plant is expected to generate electricity beyond the refinery’s own requirements.
Dangote Group reported about $17 billion in revenue in the first half of 2026 and said it is on course to reach $36 billion for the full year, compared with $18 billion recorded in 2025.
The group is also expanding the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos, with plans to increase its crude-processing capacity from about 700,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day.
The investment forms part of the group’s Vision 2030 strategy to expand its industrial footprint across Africa and grow into a $100 billion company.
