Aliko Dangote has acquired a 25% stake in the Kenya Pipeline Company, KPC, for about $327 million, marking a major expansion of his energy footprint in East Africa.
Dangote announced the acquisition on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, while speaking at the Financial Times Africa Summit in London.
The investment gives his business group an interest in the network that transports petroleum products from Kenya’s coastal port of Mombasa to inland markets and neighbouring countries.
“We bought 25 per cent of their pipeline network for the distribution of petroleum products,” Dangote said.
The transaction involves approximately 4.5 billion shares, equivalent to 24.76 per cent of KPC, according to Kenyan media reports. Dangote did not disclose which company within his business group completed the purchase.
The acquisition follows Kenya’s initial public offering of KPC, through which the government sold a 65 per cent stake in the company earlier this year.
The latest transaction involved shares held by public institutions, although the identities of all the sellers have not been confirmed.
Kenyan President William Ruto had disclosed a day earlier that private investors had acquired approximately a quarter of the pipeline company from public entities, without naming the buyers.
The investment comes as Dangote advances plans to establish a major refining operation in Kenya.
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On September 30, Dangote and Ruto broke ground on a planned $16 billion oil refinery in Lamu, on Kenya’s coast.
The facility is designed to process up to 700,000 barrels of crude oil daily, with the aim of supplying petroleum products to Kenya and other East African markets.
The refinery is expected to strengthen regional fuel production and reduce dependence on imported refined petroleum products.
Its development is part of broader efforts to expand Kenya’s industrial and energy infrastructure.
Dangote’s pipeline investment also aligns with plans to increase the capacity of the existing distribution network.
Speaking at the Financial Times Africa Summit, Dangote said he planned to invest a further $1.5 billion in expanding Kenya’s pipeline infrastructure.
Kenya Pipeline Company operates approximately 1,300 kilometres of pipeline infrastructure, transporting petrol, diesel and jet fuel across the country and serving markets including Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The company’s regional reach could give Dangote a strategic position in distributing fuel produced at his existing Nigerian refinery and, in the future, the planned Lamu facility.
IGIHE
