The
project
includes
a
fertiliser
plant
and
2,000km-long
pipeline
from
Namibia’s
Walvis
Bay,
through
Botswana,
to
Zimbabwe’s
second-largest
city,
Bulawayo.
Dangote
met
with
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa
in
Harare
on
Wednesday
to
sign
a
Memorandum
of
Understanding,
marking
one
of
the
most
significant
private-sector
investments
in
the
country
in
years.
The
deal
underscores
growing
investor
confidence
in
Mnangagwa’s
economic
reform
agenda
and
brings
the
powerful
West
African
conglomerate,
headed
by
Africa’s
richest
man,
deeper
into
the
southern
region.
“The
broader
investment
is
in
the
hundreds
of
millions
of
dollars,
maybe
even
more
than
a
billion,
but
you
know
we
will
tell
you
the
amount
as
we
go
along,
But
really
it
will
be
over
a
billion
because
of
the
pipeline,”
Dangote
said
on
Wednesday.
A
spokesperson
for
the
president
said
the
project
could
change
Zimbabwe’s
production
structure
with
fuel
cheaper
to
import.
The
agreement
paves
the
way
for
major
projects
across
energy,
cement
and
fertiliser
production,
and
infrastructure
development.
Dangote
is
already
planning
a
major
fuel
storage
facility
in
Walvis
Bay,
cutting
Southern
Africa’s
dependence
on
fuel
imports
from
Europe
and
Asia.
Post
published
in:
Agriculture