Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has signed a landmark agreement to invest more than $1 billion in Zimbabwe, targeting large-scale projects in cement production, power generation, and petroleum pipeline infrastructure.

The investment marks one of Zimbabwe’s most significant private-sector commitments in recent years, reflecting renewed investor confidence in President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ongoing economic reform and industrialization drive.

According to Business Insider Africa, Dangote had been preparing for a major investment push in Zimbabwe, with plans for a multi-sector industrial complex integrating cement manufacturing, coal mining, and energy production.

Dangote’s recent visit to Harare solidified those plans, following earlier attempts by the Dangote Group to enter Zimbabwe’s market in 2015 and 2018—efforts that stalled due to regulatory and economic challenges at the time.

Insiders describe the deal as a “transformational partnership” expected to boost Zimbabwe’s manufacturing capacity, create thousands of jobs, and reinforce the country’s position as a key investment destination in southern Africa.

Speaking after a meeting with President Mnangagwa in Harare on Wednesday, Dangote confirmed the group’s renewed commitment:

“We have just actually signed an agreement between Zimbabwe and Dangote Group to do various investments in various sectors, some of which, of course, border on cement, some of it in power generation, and some of it in pipelines to bring petroleum products,” he said.

In 2015, Dangote had announced plans for a $400 million cement plant in Zimbabwe, with a proposed annual capacity of 1.5 million tonnes.

The latest agreement expands that vision, adding Zimbabwe to Dangote’s growing portfolio of investments across Africa, which already includes major projects in Ethiopia and Zambia.

Just last month, the Dangote Group broke ground on a $2.5 billion fertilizer plant in Gode, Ethiopia—a joint venture with Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH). The facility, designed to produce three million metric tonnes of urea annually, will rank among the world’s largest fertilizer complexes once completed.

In Zambia, Dangote Cement operates a 1.5 million tonnes per annum plant commissioned in 2015, further cementing the group’s reputation as a leading force in Africa’s industrial development.