Ethiopia signed a $2.5 billion agreement with Nigeria’s Dangote Group to build one of the world’s largest fertilizer plants, as the country looks to boost agricultural productivity.
The plant, which will produce up to 3 million metric tons of fertilizer each year, marks “a decisive step in our path to food sovereignty,” Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a post on X.
Supply chain disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine have led to major fertilizer shortages across Africa, prompting calls for more local production. Abiy said the agreement will make Ethiopia a global fertilizer producer: In 2022, Dangote Group, which will own 60% of the Ethiopia venture, opened a fertilizer plant in Nigeria that now exports a third of its output to the US.
The UN’s World Food Programme and the World Bank have in recent months both expressed concern about a deepening food crisis in Ethiopia. Extreme weather and conflict in the country have exposed more than 10 million people to risks of hunger and malnutrition, with food insecurity expected to persist this year.