Dangote Gambia Push: $2 Billion for Solar and Fuel

THE GAMBIA · ENERGY

Key Facts

—The pledge: $2 billion from Aliko Dangote for a 250-megawatt solar plant and a modern fuel storage terminal, announced by President Adama Barrow after a State House meeting in Banjul.

—The scale: A 250-megawatt plant would more than double the electricity currently available on The Gambia’s national grid.

—The gap it fills: The country imported 57 percent of its electricity in the first quarter of 2025, mainly from Senegal and Guinea.

—The financing: Dangote arrived with Olusegun Alebiosu, chief executive of First Bank Group, whose institution is backing the initiative.

—The caveat: This is a preliminary commitment – binding agreements, feasibility studies and a construction timeline are still to come.

—The pattern: It slots into Dangote’s $46 billion continental programme through 2028, alongside the $17 billion Lamu refinery in Kenya.

The Dangote Gambia commitment is a $2 billion pledge to build a 250-megawatt solar plant and a fuel storage terminal, President Adama Barrow announced in Banjul – a package that would more than double the small West African country’s power supply.

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What the Dangote Gambia pledge covers

President Barrow unveiled the package after meeting Africa’s richest man at State House in Banjul, on the sidelines of the African Caucus 2026 gathering that The Gambia is hosting. It spans two projects: a 250-megawatt solar power plant and a modern fuel tank farm to strengthen petroleum reserves and steady supply.

Dangote did not travel alone. He was accompanied by Olusegun Alebiosu, chief executive of Nigeria’s First Bank Group, whose institution is backing the initiative – a sign that financing muscle is being lined up behind the plan.

First Bank’s involvement is part of the story. Pairing the region’s biggest industrialist with Nigeria’s oldest lender keeps the whole chain African, from capital to construction.

Why a small country matters here

The Gambia, a sliver of a nation of fewer than three million people wrapped inside Senegal, imported 57 percent of its electricity in the first quarter of 2025, leaning mainly on Senegal and Guinea. Its largest solar project under construction, the 150-megawatt Soma scheme, is not due for completion until 2030.

A 250-megawatt plant would exceed Soma’s output and more than double the electricity currently available on the national grid. The government wants renewables, including imported power, to rise from 13 percent of the mix in 2024 to 30 percent by 2030, against an estimated solar potential of about 428 megawatts.

The fuel terminal, meanwhile, is meant to shore up strategic reserves and cushion prices in an economy exposed to import shocks.

The Gambia’s grid problems are typical of small West African markets: heavy import dependence, costly thermal generation and demand that outruns supply. Solar at this scale would change the arithmetic of what businesses can operate there.

It would also rebalance a lopsided relationship with Senegal, the neighbour that surrounds The Gambia and supplies much of its power. Energy independence has been a stated goal in Banjul for years.

A pledge is not yet a power plant

What has not happened yet is the part that matters most. The commitment is preliminary: binding agreements, technical and feasibility studies and delivery structures all remain to be concluded, and no construction timeline has been given.

The government has also not disclosed how the $2 billion splits between the solar plant and the fuel terminal. Announcements of this size are common on summit sidelines, and their value depends on surviving due diligence and reaching financial close.

For an economy The Gambia’s size, a completed 250-megawatt plant would be transformative. A stalled one would be a familiar disappointment.

Dangote’s continental expansion

The Banjul pledge slots into a much larger push. Dangote’s group has outlined a $46 billion investment programme spanning refining, fertiliser and cement through 2028, and has confirmed Lamu in Kenya as the site of a $17 billion East African refinery.

His Lagos refinery has already turned Nigeria into a net exporter of petrol and overtook the United States as Europe’s top jet fuel supplier in June. The industrialist has argued for years that Africa loses value by exporting raw commodities and importing finished goods, per Billionaires.Africa.

What to watch next

Barrow has directed his ministries to work with Dangote’s technical teams to move the projects forward, and framed the pledge as proof of growing confidence among African investors in the Gambian economy. The next markers are concrete ones: signed agreements, completed studies and a construction start.

The African Caucus summit that brought Dangote to Banjul gathers African finance ministers and the World Bank each year, and this edition doubles as The Gambia’s investment showcase. Landing the continent’s most famous industrialist is the headline Barrow wanted.

For the wider region, the deal is another data point in a shift worth following. African industrial capital, not just foreign donors or Chinese state lenders, is starting to build the continent’s power infrastructure.

Frequently asked questions

What has Dangote pledged in The Gambia?

$2 billion to build a 250-megawatt solar power plant and a modern fuel storage terminal, announced by President Adama Barrow after a State House meeting in Banjul.

How significant is a 250-megawatt plant for The Gambia?

It would more than double the electricity currently available on the national grid, in a country that imported 57 percent of its power in early 2025.

Is the Dangote Gambia deal final?

No. It is a preliminary commitment – binding agreements, feasibility studies and a construction timeline are still to be concluded.

How does this fit Dangote’s wider plans?

It joins a $46 billion continental investment programme through 2028, which includes a $17 billion refinery planned at Lamu in Kenya.

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