President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania has held high level talks with President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, on a major expansion of the Group’s investments in Tanzania, with discussions focusing on transport infrastructure, fertiliser production, power generation, ports and regional trade.

The meeting, held at the State House in Dar es Salaam, reaffirmed the long-standing partnership between Tanzania and the Dangote Group while opening discussions on a new phase of investments aligned with the country’s industrialisation and economic transformation agenda.

Speaking after the meeting, Dangote said Tanzania remains one of Africa’s most attractive investment destinations, noting that the Group had identified several strategic sectors capable of delivering significant economic value.

“We have identified areas that can deliver significant value for Tanzania, and we are ready to work together to develop them for our mutual benefit,” he said.

The discussions covered a broad range of projects, including port development, the construction of a 40-kilometre concrete access road to support port operations, development of a special trade zone, a proposed 2,000-megawatt coal fired power plant, a urea fertiliser plant and transport infrastructure linking Mtwara with Mbamba Bay in southern Tanzania.

Dangote also explained the commercial and technical considerations behind the Group’s decision to locate its planned East African refinery in Lamu, Kenya, while extending an invitation to the Government of Tanzania to participate in the investment.

President Samia welcomed the Dangote Group’s continued confidence in Tanzania and directed relevant ministries and government agencies to commence detailed technical discussions on the proposed investments in line with the country’s legal, policy and development priorities.

She also appointed the Minister of Planning and Investment to coordinate the strategic partnership with Dangote Industries Limited, with both sides expected to begin formal negotiations in the coming days.

A Tanzanian government delegation led by the Minister is expected to visit Nigeria to advance discussions and develop implementation frameworks for the proposed projects.

According to a statement from the Directorate of Presidential Communications, the Government remains committed to strengthening partnerships with the private sector as part of efforts to mobilise productive investment, accelerate industrialisation, promote technology transfer, and create sustainable employment opportunities.

Dangote Industries already operates one of Tanzania’s largest industrial investments through its $500 million cement plant in Mtwara, which has an annual production capacity of three million tonnes and supplies both the domestic market and neighbouring countries.

The latest engagement deepens the partnership between Tanzania and the Dangote Group and reinforces the company’s position as one of Africa’s leading private sector investors driving regional industrialisation, infrastructure development, and economic integration.

To compliment its crude oil requirement volume, Dangote Refinery has purchased two cargoes of the commodity from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), marking its entry into the Middle Eastern crude market. The purchase underscores the refinery’s strategy to diversify supply ahead of its planned expansion to 1.4 million barrels per day.

According to S&P Global Commodity Insights, the purchase represents a significant shift for the refinery, which has traditionally sourced crude from the country, other African producers and the United States.

Although the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) supplies between 13 and 15 cargoes of crude monthly to Dangote under the federal government’s naira-for-crude arrangement, the refinery has increasingly turned to overseas suppliers because of insufficient domestic crude availability and operational bottlenecks at export terminals.

The latest purchase also follows improved stability in Middle Eastern oil exports after shipping through the Strait of Hormuz normalised following the easing of tensions between the United States and Iran, improving the availability of Gulf crude in international markets.

The diversification reflects both operational flexibility and commercial strategy. Middle Eastern crude grades are generally heavier than Nigeria’s light sweet blends and can improve refinery economics when blended with lighter barrels, giving refiners greater flexibility to optimise yields of diesel, jet fuel and other petroleum products.

The development comes despite gradual improvements in Nigeria’s oil production. According to OPEC’s latest Monthly Oil Market Report, Nigeria produced about 1.5 million barrels of crude oil per day in May, remaining below levels needed to comfortably meet export commitments while supplying growing domestic refining demand.

The Chief Executive Officer, Dangote Refinery, David Bird, had previously acknowledged that inadequate crude availability had compelled the refinery to source additional supplies from international markets.

“We definitely want to heavy up the barrel. We will be in the crude blending game. So you can easily imagine that at 1.4 million barrels per day we could process 30 per cent Middle Eastern grades on each train,” Bird said.

According to S&P Global Commodities at Sea data, about 70 per cent of the refinery’s crude imports in 2025 originated from Nigeria, while 24 per cent came from the United States.

According to sources in the facility, the refinery’s first purchase of Middle Eastern crude marks more than a routine cargo acquisition; it signals a strategic shift towards a more diversified global sourcing model.

Global demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) is expected to reach nearly 700 million tonnes per year by 2050, up about 65 per cent from 2025 levels. According to the report from Shell, published in its latest LNG Outlook 2026, the firm projects that around 180 million tonnes per year of new liquefaction capacity will come online by 2030, with additional investment required through the following decades to meet rising consumption.

The company, as published in a report by Oilprice.com, said global LNG trade reached 422 million tonnes in 2025 and had been expected to grow further this year. However, shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz- triggered by the recent Middle East conflict-temporarily shut in roughly one-fifth of monthly global LNG supply, lifting Asian spot prices above $20 per million British thermal units (MMBtu).

Shell said increased liquefaction output from North America, stronger performance at existing facilities, and softer LNG imports in Asia have partially offset reduced Middle Eastern exports. If shipping through the Strait of Hormuz normalises during the summer, total LNG trade in 2026 could remain broadly in line with last year before resuming growth in 2027.

“The LNG industry has proved resilient and able to adapt to changing market conditions,” Cederic Cremers, Shell’s President of Integrated Gas, said, adding that LNG would continue to play a stabilising role in the global energy system despite the need for further investment in supply and infrastructure.

Oilprice.com reported that Shell expects South and Southeast Asia to account for around 40 per cent of global LNG imports by 2050 as countries seek lower-emissions alternatives to coal while meeting rising electricity demand. The company also highlighted growing demand from LNG bunkering, which it forecasts will increase sevenfold to 27 million tonnes annually by 2035, and rising electricity consumption from data centers in mature Asian markets such as Japan.

Europe is also expected to remain an important LNG market as domestic natural gas production declines and gas-fired generation supports intermittent renewable power. While recent geopolitical tensions drove up spot prices, Shell noted the market has become more resilient than during the 2022 energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, largely because long-term contracts now account for around two-thirds of global LNG trade.

Shell’s annual LNG Outlook, now in its tenth edition, shows the market has expanded significantly over the past decade, with global LNG trade increasing by around 60 per cent, the number of importing countries rising from 36 to 49, and LNG-fueled ships growing from 77 to more than 800.

….Culled from Reuters

Headline and few parts of story reworked slightly