Africa’s leading industrialist, Aliko Dangote of Nigeria, is set to order a fleet of ships from China’s shipyards to carry out intra-African trade. The Dangote Group is one of Africa’s leading refiners of petroleum and sugar, producer of cement and fertilizer, and owner of truck assembly plants, and is eager to market its products in Africa.

Edwin Devakumar, Dangote Group’s vice president for oil, gas, and fertilizer was quoted on Sept. 13 by the Maritime Executive as saying that the refinery will require roughly 1,800 vessel calls annually to ship its products. He added that the group has scheduled a visit to China to negotiate with shipbuilders for orders. “The first batch of orders could arrive as early as 2029,” added Devakumar in an address last week to members of the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping (NCS). The plan is to order tankers as well as dry bulk carriers.

The Dangote Group operates Africa’s largest refinery, with a capacity of 700,000 barrels a day, which is planned to expand to 1.4 million within three years. It will also build a 700,000-bpd refinery in Kenya. Dangote’s objective is to make Africa self-sufficient in petroleum products as well as cement and fertilizer. Ships are the most efficient way to transport cargo to coastal ports of African states, but an African cargo fleet is almost non-existent; shipping is dominated by foreign shipping companies that are not only expensive, but do not cater to intra-African shipping requirements.

Dangote is being supported by the Nigerian government’s Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), established earlier this year, which aims to support and expand the Nigerian shipping industry.

Nigeria joins Egypt, which last March announced its intention to build a shipping fleet to promote trade with the countries of East and West Africa.