Ethiopia to build 3mn t/year urea plant
Nigeria's Dangote Group and the government of Ethiopia have signed an agreement to build a 3mn t/year urea plant in Gode, Ethiopia — a first for the country.
Dangote will have a 60pc share in the factory while the government of Ethiopia will hold the balance through Ethiopian Investment Holdings.
No date has been set for the start of construction. The companies expect the cost to be around $2.5bn, and construction to take 40 months.
Ethiopia currently consumes around 750,000t/year of urea, importing this through large tenders. There will likely be a significant surplus for export as a result.
Natural gas feedstock will be sourced from the nearby Calub and Hilala gas fields. In years past OCP was connected with the possible development of an NP/NPK plant sourcing gas from the same fields.
