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In 2018, I moved to Togo & spent the next four years building Africa's super app, starting w/ Francophone Africa
Today, Gozem operates across multiple verticals in ๐น๐ฌ, ๐ง๐ฏ, ๐ฌ๐ฆ, and ๐จ๐ฒ
I recently transitioned away & had some time to reflect
Here are 10 lessons I learned...
Today, Gozem operates across multiple verticals in ๐น๐ฌ, ๐ง๐ฏ, ๐ฌ๐ฆ, and ๐จ๐ฒ
I recently transitioned away & had some time to reflect
Here are 10 lessons I learned...
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Africa officially has a new unicorn.
Yesterday, Nigeria's Moove announced a $250 million Series C โ led by UAE's Mubadala โ that values it at $2.1 billion.
It's the latest private tech startup from the continent to cross the $1 billion valuation threshold.
That makes 11 ears โ 1 per year on average.
9 of them are fintechs. 7 of them got their start in Nigeria. And 5 of them became unicorns in 2021 โ at the height of the global venture capital boom.
Looking forward, here are three contenders to join the list next:
โข M-KOPA (Kenya, pay-as-you-go asset financing) โ $416M in 2025 revenue, in line with Moove's current ARR of $420M.
โข PalmPay (Nigeria, mobile payments) โ in "advanced" stages of a ~$200M round that would value it above $1B, per Bloomberg.
โข SPIRO (Benin, electric mobility) โ raised $215M in June at a valuation "nearing" $1B, following a $350M valuation in late 2025.
๐ฃ๏ธ Who else would you add to the list of unicorn contenders in Africa?
โ
Decision-makers across the continent and the world trust @AfridigestHQ for Africa-focused intelligence & advisory โ afridigest.com/intelligence
Yesterday, Nigeria's Moove announced a $250 million Series C โ led by UAE's Mubadala โ that values it at $2.1 billion.
It's the latest private tech startup from the continent to cross the $1 billion valuation threshold.
That makes 11 ears โ 1 per year on average.
9 of them are fintechs. 7 of them got their start in Nigeria. And 5 of them became unicorns in 2021 โ at the height of the global venture capital boom.
Looking forward, here are three contenders to join the list next:
โข M-KOPA (Kenya, pay-as-you-go asset financing) โ $416M in 2025 revenue, in line with Moove's current ARR of $420M.
โข PalmPay (Nigeria, mobile payments) โ in "advanced" stages of a ~$200M round that would value it above $1B, per Bloomberg.
โข SPIRO (Benin, electric mobility) โ raised $215M in June at a valuation "nearing" $1B, following a $350M valuation in late 2025.
๐ฃ๏ธ Who else would you add to the list of unicorn contenders in Africa?
โ
Decision-makers across the continent and the world trust @AfridigestHQ for Africa-focused intelligence & advisory โ afridigest.com/intelligence
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Question for the reader:
Is Moove's pivot to autonomous mobility in development markets in line with its original mission to address Africa's lack of vehicle financing access?
Or is the 'fullest expression' narrative now being pushed an example of the type of stories some Africa-focused startups tell once the real opportunity turns out to be somewhere else?
Is Moove's pivot to autonomous mobility in development markets in line with its original mission to address Africa's lack of vehicle financing access?
Or is the 'fullest expression' narrative now being pushed an example of the type of stories some Africa-focused startups tell once the real opportunity turns out to be somewhere else?
Africa now officially has 10 unicorns.
Nigeria's @moove_io just announced a $250 million Series C โ led by UAE's @Mubadala โ that values it at $2.1 billion.
Moove initially launched with a network of ~75 vehicles in Lagos; it now has ~42,000 vehicles across 29 cities in 13 d an ARR of $420 million.
The round sees the company, which began operations as a vehicle financing 'mobility fintech' across African markets, fully declare its ambitions to become "the operating layer for autonomous mobility" worldwide.
Moove already works with @Waymo, the world's leading self-driving tech company, in the US and the UK, and plans to grow its autonomous vehicle workforce 3x by the end of the year, from ~150 today to ~500 before 2027.
According to Moove co-founder & co-CEO Ladi Delano, the company's shift from helping Uber drivers across African markets acquire new vehicles without large down payments to helping operationalize the world's autonomous vehicle revolution "is not a departure from our mission, it is the fullest expression of it."
โ afridigest.com/subscribe
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Africa now officially has 10 unicorns.
Nigeria's @moove_io just announced a $250 million Series C โ led by UAE's @Mubadala โ that values it at $2.1 billion.
Moove initially launched with a network of ~75 vehicles in Lagos; it now has ~42,000 vehicles across 29 cities in 13 d an ARR of $420 million.
The round sees the company, which began operations as a vehicle financing 'mobility fintech' across African markets, fully declare its ambitions to become "the operating layer for autonomous mobility" worldwide.
Moove already works with @Waymo, the world's leading self-driving tech company, in the US and the UK, and plans to grow its autonomous vehicle workforce 3x by the end of the year, from ~150 today to ~500 before 2027.
According to Moove co-founder & co-CEO Ladi Delano, the company's shift from helping Uber drivers across African markets acquire new vehicles without large down payments to helping operationalize the world's autonomous vehicle revolution "is not a departure from our mission, it is the fullest expression of it."
โ afridigest.com/subscribe
Nigeria's @moove_io just announced a $250 million Series C โ led by UAE's @Mubadala โ that values it at $2.1 billion.
Moove initially launched with a network of ~75 vehicles in Lagos; it now has ~42,000 vehicles across 29 cities in 13 d an ARR of $420 million.
The round sees the company, which began operations as a vehicle financing 'mobility fintech' across African markets, fully declare its ambitions to become "the operating layer for autonomous mobility" worldwide.
Moove already works with @Waymo, the world's leading self-driving tech company, in the US and the UK, and plans to grow its autonomous vehicle workforce 3x by the end of the year, from ~150 today to ~500 before 2027.
According to Moove co-founder & co-CEO Ladi Delano, the company's shift from helping Uber drivers across African markets acquire new vehicles without large down payments to helping operationalize the world's autonomous vehicle revolution "is not a departure from our mission, it is the fullest expression of it."
โ afridigest.com/subscribe
We have led a $250 million Series C funding round in Moove, the global mobility company building the operating layer for autonomous mobility, co-led by Woven Capital, Toyotaโs Growth Fund, and Ion Pacific.
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Africa is about to get another tech unicorn.
Bloomberg reported yesterday that Sino-Nigerian mobile payments platform PalmPay is in 'advanced' stages of a ~$200M funding round that values it at over $1B
Here's what to know:
โข PalmPay's rise is inseparable from Transsion, the t dominates Africaโs smartphone market with its Tecno, Infinix, and itel brands. Transsion is PalmPay's lead investor and PalmPay's 40 million-strong userbase is built, in many ways, on the back of Transsion's handset dominance across the continent.
โข In addition to the fundraise, PalmPay is also prepping an IPO with a telling venue: Hong Kong. That's not a coincidence. Transsion, which is already listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, is actively targeting a secondary Hong Kong listing. And an IPO in Hong Kong means PalmPay gets investors who already know and trust its main shareholders โ Transsion, NetEase, and MediaTek.
โข Large-scale fintech in Africa is enjoying significant momentum. Mobile money platform Airtel Money Africa announced two weeks ago that it picked theย London Stock Exchange for its IPO expected this year, which is targeting a $10B valuation. A few months ago, mobile payments unicorn OPay hired Citi, Deutsche Bank, and JPMorgan as it targets a $4B US IPO. And last November, airtime lending platform Optasia raised ~$375M in an IPO on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange that valued it at ~$1.4B.
Notably, Optasia, OPay, and PalmPay all built their businesses on top of the Nigerian market, but are choosing to list elsewhere.
One takeaway: The continent's most populous country is proving increasingly capable of producing globally valuable tech companies, but hasn't yet built domestic capital markets that can consistently capture the wealth those companies create.
โ afridigest.com/subscribe
Bloomberg reported yesterday that Sino-Nigerian mobile payments platform PalmPay is in 'advanced' stages of a ~$200M funding round that values it at over $1B
Here's what to know:
โข PalmPay's rise is inseparable from Transsion, the t dominates Africaโs smartphone market with its Tecno, Infinix, and itel brands. Transsion is PalmPay's lead investor and PalmPay's 40 million-strong userbase is built, in many ways, on the back of Transsion's handset dominance across the continent.
โข In addition to the fundraise, PalmPay is also prepping an IPO with a telling venue: Hong Kong. That's not a coincidence. Transsion, which is already listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, is actively targeting a secondary Hong Kong listing. And an IPO in Hong Kong means PalmPay gets investors who already know and trust its main shareholders โ Transsion, NetEase, and MediaTek.
โข Large-scale fintech in Africa is enjoying significant momentum. Mobile money platform Airtel Money Africa announced two weeks ago that it picked theย London Stock Exchange for its IPO expected this year, which is targeting a $10B valuation. A few months ago, mobile payments unicorn OPay hired Citi, Deutsche Bank, and JPMorgan as it targets a $4B US IPO. And last November, airtime lending platform Optasia raised ~$375M in an IPO on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange that valued it at ~$1.4B.
Notably, Optasia, OPay, and PalmPay all built their businesses on top of the Nigerian market, but are choosing to list elsewhere.
One takeaway: The continent's most populous country is proving increasingly capable of producing globally valuable tech companies, but hasn't yet built domestic capital markets that can consistently capture the wealth those companies create.
โ afridigest.com/subscribe
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Africa is about to get another tech unicorn
In the minds of many industry watchers, Moove & M-KOPA lead the continent's 'soonicorn' herd
But Bloomberg reports today that @palmpay_ng is in 'advanced' stages of a ~$200M funding round that values it at over $1B
Watch this space
In the minds of many industry watchers, Moove & M-KOPA lead the continent's 'soonicorn' herd
But Bloomberg reports today that @palmpay_ng is in 'advanced' stages of a ~$200M funding round that values it at over $1B
Watch this space
According to Afridigest readers, Moove and M-KOPA are the most likely candidates to be Africa's next unicorn
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Africa-focused fintech PalmPay is preparing for a potential Hong Kong IPO, according to people with knowledge of the matter bloomberg.com/news/articles/โฆ
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Africa's richest man just got a lot richer โ and it's a testament to timing.
Aliko Dangote spent over a decade "through hell" building a $20B+ refinery in Lagos.
Land access was blocked for 5 years by entrenched oil industry interests.
65 million cubic meters of sand had to be naira collapsed from โฆ156 to โฆ1,900 to the dollar mid-construction.
Critics called it Nigeria's next stalled megaproject.
But the team persisted, and the refinery began the first-phase of production in Q1 2024.
Two years later, this past February, it hit full capacity โ right as the Iran war shut off the Strait of Hormuz spigot.
Since then:
โข Dangote's wealth is up ~$5B (per Bloomberg)
โข Gasoline, diesel, & jet fuel output from the refinery are all up 70%+
โข The refinery has been the world's single largest jet fuel exporter since April (per S&P Global)
โข It's now targeting a $50B+ valuation in an IPO on the Nigerian stock exchange, with a possible NYSE leg to follow
Next up: doubling capacity to 1.4M barrels/day by 2028, plus a new $15B+ refinery in Lamu, Kenya, and a 1,500-mile pipeline reaching landlocked markets like Zimbabwe and Zambia.
A decade of delays made the refinery look like another bridge to nowhere in a country known for them.
Another national monument of nothingness โ too slow, too costly, too late to matter.
Then a conflict disrupted the flow of ~20% of the world's oil.
The refinery that was "too late" arrived right on time.
Aliko Dangote spent over a decade "through hell" building a $20B+ refinery in Lagos.
Land access was blocked for 5 years by entrenched oil industry interests.
65 million cubic meters of sand had to be naira collapsed from โฆ156 to โฆ1,900 to the dollar mid-construction.
Critics called it Nigeria's next stalled megaproject.
But the team persisted, and the refinery began the first-phase of production in Q1 2024.
Two years later, this past February, it hit full capacity โ right as the Iran war shut off the Strait of Hormuz spigot.
Since then:
โข Dangote's wealth is up ~$5B (per Bloomberg)
โข Gasoline, diesel, & jet fuel output from the refinery are all up 70%+
โข The refinery has been the world's single largest jet fuel exporter since April (per S&P Global)
โข It's now targeting a $50B+ valuation in an IPO on the Nigerian stock exchange, with a possible NYSE leg to follow
Next up: doubling capacity to 1.4M barrels/day by 2028, plus a new $15B+ refinery in Lamu, Kenya, and a 1,500-mile pipeline reaching landlocked markets like Zimbabwe and Zambia.
A decade of delays made the refinery look like another bridge to nowhere in a country known for them.
Another national monument of nothingness โ too slow, too costly, too late to matter.
Then a conflict disrupted the flow of ~20% of the world's oil.
The refinery that was "too late" arrived right on time.
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Timing is everything.
Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote went โthrough hellโ building a $20 billion oil refinery that was plagued by a decade of delays and cost overruns that doubled the tab for the project. Now, the commodities tycoon is reaping the benefits. on.wsj.com/4wBAiVj
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Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ retweeted
Afridigest Signal: LemFi's third acquisition in 18 months โ and the playbook behind it, by @eajene open.substack.com/pub/afridigestโฆ
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Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ retweeted
Two countries account for a disproportionate share of Africaโs tptal export power: ๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa & ๐ฒ๐ฆ Morocco
Export power is a strong indicator of productive capacity & economic health
Read the breakdown of the 10 African countries that lead the way๐๐ฝ
afridigest.com/top-10-africanโฆ
Export power is a strong indicator of productive capacity & economic health
Read the breakdown of the 10 African countries that lead the way๐๐ฝ
afridigest.com/top-10-africanโฆ
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Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ retweeted
This is a great move for African structural transformation & intra African trade. Suprisingly being done by a single indivisual. Intra African trade is currently about 16% of the continents trade & hardly moving up. But with a project like this, it can jump to 30% easily ( as Africa's fuel import is about 15% of its total imports) if African countries sources their fuel import from within the continent -indicating success in intra African trade rests in rising trade in processed/manufactured goods, including refined oil -one of the results from my research last year at @AfreximResearch.๐
The Dangote effect is spreading.
A few months ago, I wrote about how Nigeria's Dangote Refinery single-handedly reversed a decade of decline in Africa's oil refining capacity (see tweet below).
This week, that effect started to spread East.
Aliko Dangote confirmed his next barrels per day (bpd) behemoth requiring $17B in investment โ will be built on Lamu Island, Kenya, ending months of speculation.
Soil tests are underway. Design and engineering work has started. Financing โ a mix of internal cash flow, bonds, and proceeds from the widely anticipated IPO of the Lagos refinery โ is in the works.
Once built โ construction is expected to take 3 to 5 years โ Lamu will be East Africa's largest refinery and the continent's second-largest after Lagos, which Dangote plans to expand to 1.4M bpd by 2028.
The refinery in the port city on the Indian Ocean is designed to serve not just Kenya, but Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, and other neighboring markets in a region that's home to 400M+ people & that today imports nearly 100% of its refined fuel.
And Dangote isn't the only one moving:
โข Angola is adding ~360k bpd via its Lobito, Soyo, & Cabinda projects, with Cabinda's first phase (~30k bpd) coming online & supplying its first liters of diesel to the local market in May
โข Zambia's 60k bpd Ndola refinery is also targeting initial commercial production this year
โข Uganda's Hoima refinery (60k bpd) and Djibouti's Damerjog project (300k bpd) both continue to advance
โข Senegal's planned 80k bpd SAR 2.0 facility โ a complement to the 30k bpd SAR 1 โ is still expected to begin construction this year
Here's why this matters: ~7% of the world's crude oil is produced in African markets, but they hold just ~3% of global refining capacity โ and ~50% of that lies unused.
The continent exports three-quarters of the crude it pumps, then imports 70% of the fuel it burns.
For a decade, that gap only widened.
Now, for the first time, it's starting to close โ one refinery at a time.
That's the Dangote effect.
โ afridigest.com/subscribe
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Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ retweeted
โThe continent exports three-quarters of the crude it pumps, then imports 70% of the fuel it burns.โ
The Dangote effect is spreading.
A few months ago, I wrote about how Nigeria's Dangote Refinery single-handedly reversed a decade of decline in Africa's oil refining capacity (see tweet below).
This week, that effect started to spread East.
Aliko Dangote confirmed his next barrels per day (bpd) behemoth requiring $17B in investment โ will be built on Lamu Island, Kenya, ending months of speculation.
Soil tests are underway. Design and engineering work has started. Financing โ a mix of internal cash flow, bonds, and proceeds from the widely anticipated IPO of the Lagos refinery โ is in the works.
Once built โ construction is expected to take 3 to 5 years โ Lamu will be East Africa's largest refinery and the continent's second-largest after Lagos, which Dangote plans to expand to 1.4M bpd by 2028.
The refinery in the port city on the Indian Ocean is designed to serve not just Kenya, but Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, and other neighboring markets in a region that's home to 400M+ people & that today imports nearly 100% of its refined fuel.
And Dangote isn't the only one moving:
โข Angola is adding ~360k bpd via its Lobito, Soyo, & Cabinda projects, with Cabinda's first phase (~30k bpd) coming online & supplying its first liters of diesel to the local market in May
โข Zambia's 60k bpd Ndola refinery is also targeting initial commercial production this year
โข Uganda's Hoima refinery (60k bpd) and Djibouti's Damerjog project (300k bpd) both continue to advance
โข Senegal's planned 80k bpd SAR 2.0 facility โ a complement to the 30k bpd SAR 1 โ is still expected to begin construction this year
Here's why this matters: ~7% of the world's crude oil is produced in African markets, but they hold just ~3% of global refining capacity โ and ~50% of that lies unused.
The continent exports three-quarters of the crude it pumps, then imports 70% of the fuel it burns.
For a decade, that gap only widened.
Now, for the first time, it's starting to close โ one refinery at a time.
That's the Dangote effect.
โ afridigest.com/subscribe
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Building a mature, venture-scale company in African markets has historically meant establishing a pan-African platform.
One that delivers Africa's key markets to potential buyers as a single unit.
But the playbook is changing.
Rather than pursuing a pan-African strategy, gly executing an Africa-to-the-world strategy:
Command a strong position in a home market then scale quickly beyond the continent โ often to markets that offer hard currency revenues.
โข @GoTymebankZA went from South Africa into Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Hong Kong.
โข @Moove_io went from Nigeria into other African countries, then India, the UAE, the UK, the US, and Latin America.
โข And Nigeria's @UseLemfi, which announced the relocation of its HQ to the UK two months ago, is perhaps the clearest current example of this shift.
I just published an @AfridigestHQ piece looking at LemFi's acquisition spree in Europe where it's bought 3 companies in 18 months as it evolves into a full financial super app.
Read it here โ afridigest.substack.com/p/afridigest-sโฆ
One that delivers Africa's key markets to potential buyers as a single unit.
But the playbook is changing.
Rather than pursuing a pan-African strategy, gly executing an Africa-to-the-world strategy:
Command a strong position in a home market then scale quickly beyond the continent โ often to markets that offer hard currency revenues.
โข @GoTymebankZA went from South Africa into Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Hong Kong.
โข @Moove_io went from Nigeria into other African countries, then India, the UAE, the UK, the US, and Latin America.
โข And Nigeria's @UseLemfi, which announced the relocation of its HQ to the UK two months ago, is perhaps the clearest current example of this shift.
I just published an @AfridigestHQ piece looking at LemFi's acquisition spree in Europe where it's bought 3 companies in 18 months as it evolves into a full financial super app.
Read it here โ afridigest.substack.com/p/afridigest-sโฆ
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The Dangote effect is spreading.
A few months ago, I wrote about how Nigeria's Dangote Refinery single-handedly reversed a decade of decline in Africa's oil refining capacity (see tweet below).
This week, that effect started to spread East.
Aliko Dangote confirmed his next barrels per day (bpd) behemoth requiring $17B in investment โ will be built on Lamu Island, Kenya, ending months of speculation.
Soil tests are underway. Design and engineering work has started. Financing โ a mix of internal cash flow, bonds, and proceeds from the widely anticipated IPO of the Lagos refinery โ is in the works.
Once built โ construction is expected to take 3 to 5 years โ Lamu will be East Africa's largest refinery and the continent's second-largest after Lagos, which Dangote plans to expand to 1.4M bpd by 2028.
The refinery in the port city on the Indian Ocean is designed to serve not just Kenya, but Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, and other neighboring markets in a region that's home to 400M+ people & that today imports nearly 100% of its refined fuel.
And Dangote isn't the only one moving:
โข Angola is adding ~360k bpd via its Lobito, Soyo, & Cabinda projects, with Cabinda's first phase (~30k bpd) coming online & supplying its first liters of diesel to the local market in May
โข Zambia's 60k bpd Ndola refinery is also targeting initial commercial production this year
โข Uganda's Hoima refinery (60k bpd) and Djibouti's Damerjog project (300k bpd) both continue to advance
โข Senegal's planned 80k bpd SAR 2.0 facility โ a complement to the 30k bpd SAR 1 โ is still expected to begin construction this year
Here's why this matters: ~7% of the world's crude oil is produced in African markets, but they hold just ~3% of global refining capacity โ and ~50% of that lies unused.
The continent exports three-quarters of the crude it pumps, then imports 70% of the fuel it burns.
For a decade, that gap only widened.
Now, for the first time, it's starting to close โ one refinery at a time.
That's the Dangote effect.
โ afridigest.com/subscribe
A few months ago, I wrote about how Nigeria's Dangote Refinery single-handedly reversed a decade of decline in Africa's oil refining capacity (see tweet below).
This week, that effect started to spread East.
Aliko Dangote confirmed his next barrels per day (bpd) behemoth requiring $17B in investment โ will be built on Lamu Island, Kenya, ending months of speculation.
Soil tests are underway. Design and engineering work has started. Financing โ a mix of internal cash flow, bonds, and proceeds from the widely anticipated IPO of the Lagos refinery โ is in the works.
Once built โ construction is expected to take 3 to 5 years โ Lamu will be East Africa's largest refinery and the continent's second-largest after Lagos, which Dangote plans to expand to 1.4M bpd by 2028.
The refinery in the port city on the Indian Ocean is designed to serve not just Kenya, but Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, and other neighboring markets in a region that's home to 400M+ people & that today imports nearly 100% of its refined fuel.
And Dangote isn't the only one moving:
โข Angola is adding ~360k bpd via its Lobito, Soyo, & Cabinda projects, with Cabinda's first phase (~30k bpd) coming online & supplying its first liters of diesel to the local market in May
โข Zambia's 60k bpd Ndola refinery is also targeting initial commercial production this year
โข Uganda's Hoima refinery (60k bpd) and Djibouti's Damerjog project (300k bpd) both continue to advance
โข Senegal's planned 80k bpd SAR 2.0 facility โ a complement to the 30k bpd SAR 1 โ is still expected to begin construction this year
Here's why this matters: ~7% of the world's crude oil is produced in African markets, but they hold just ~3% of global refining capacity โ and ~50% of that lies unused.
The continent exports three-quarters of the crude it pumps, then imports 70% of the fuel it burns.
For a decade, that gap only widened.
Now, for the first time, it's starting to close โ one refinery at a time.
That's the Dangote effect.
โ afridigest.com/subscribe
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Africa's oil refining capacity quietly but steadily declined over the last decade.
Then, in a single year, one refinery changed the whole picture.
The Dangote Refinery โ Nigeria's 650k barrels per day (bpd) mega-refinery and the largest on the continent โ commenced operations Nigeria's refining capacity roughly doubled to over 1M bpd. And Africa's total capacity jumped 20% to 3.5M bpd.
The Dangote effect.
But zoom out, and the story is more complicated:
โขย Nigeria ๐ณ๐ฌ โ from cautionary tale to potential refining hub. The country long notorious for being a major oil producer that imports virtually all its refined fuel is now rewriting that narrative.
โข South Africa ๐ฟ๐ฆ โ a structural collapse, not a cyclical dip. Capacity was cut in half following the closure of SAPREF and Engen. It won't recover without significant new investment.
โข Morocco ๐ฒ๐ฆ โ exited entirely. Its sole refinery, SAMIR, closed after accumulating $4B+ in debt. A decade later, the liquidation process is still tied up in courts.
โข Egypt & Algeria ๐ช๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ฟ โ broadly flat across the decade but round out Africa's top three refiners, with Nigeria now leading the continent.
The uncomfortable truth: strip out Dangote, and Africa's 2024 refining capacity was lower than it was in 2014.
One refinery doing the work of an entire continent's decade of underinvestment.
And just this week, that refinery began exporting fuel to Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Ghana, Togo, and Tanzania amidst disruptions from the US-Iran war.
Things are looking up for Africa โ in more ways than one.
Angola plans to add some 300k bpd of refining capacity via greenfield projects, Lobito and Soyo. And the countryโs Cabinda refinery is expected to begin commercial production this year, adding ~30k bpd in the first phase.
Elsewhere, Zambia's 60k bpd Ndola refinery is also expected to begin commercial production this year.
And Dangote plans to expand his refinery to 1.4M bpd by 2028.
Today, Africa accounts for just 3.3% of global refining capacity despite sitting atop some of the world's largest oil reserves.
But the next decade won't look like the last โ especially if the Dangote effect becomes infectious.
---
Afridigest Intelligence โ real intelligence to win in Africa's growth markets: afridigest.com/intelligence
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Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ retweeted
The @WorldBankGroup just released its global country income classifications for 2026-2027
Africa has:
โข 1 high income country
โข 8 upper-middle income
โข 24 lower-middle income
โข 21 low income
โข 1 not classified
Read the full breakdown ๐๐ฝ
afridigest.com/how-the-world-โฆ
Africa has:
โข 1 high income country
โข 8 upper-middle income
โข 24 lower-middle income
โข 21 low income
โข 1 not classified
Read the full breakdown ๐๐ฝ
afridigest.com/how-the-world-โฆ
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The @WorldBankGroup just updated its global country income classifications.
In Africa, Togo moved from Low income to Lower-middle income & Ethiopia moved from Unclassified to Low Income.
Here's the 2026-2027 Africa breakdown:
๐ก High income โ 1 country
๐ต Upper-middle income โ 8 coincome โ 24 countries
๐ด Low income โ 21 countries
โซ Unclassified โ 1 country
Here's the full country-by-country list:
๐ก ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ (1)
๐ธ๐จ Seychelles
๐ต ๐จ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ-๐บ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐น๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ (8)
๐ฉ๐ฟ Algeria
๐ง๐ผ Botswana
๐จ๐ป Cabo Verde
๐ฌ๐ถ Equatorial Guinea
๐ฌ๐ฆ Gabon
๐ฑ๐พ Libya
๐ฒ๐บ Mauritius
๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa
๐ฃ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ-๐บ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐น๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ (24)
๐ฆ๐ด Angola
๐ง๐ฏ Benin
๐จ๐ฒ Cameroon
๐ฐ๐ฒ Comoros
๐จ๐ฌ Congo, Rep.
๐จ๐ฎ Cรดte d'Ivoire
๐ฉ๐ฏ Djibouti
๐ช๐ฌ Egypt
๐ธ๐ฟ Eswatini
๐ฌ๐ญ Ghana
๐ฌ๐ณ Guinea
๐ฐ๐ช Kenya
๐ฑ๐ธ Lesotho
๐ฒ๐ท Mauritania
๐ฒ๐ฆ Morocco
๐ณ๐ฆ Namibia
๐ณ๐ฌ Nigeria
๐ธ๐น Sรฃo Tomรฉ and Prรญncipe
๐ธ๐ณ Senegal
๐น๐ฟ Tanzania
๐น๐ฌ Togo
๐น๐ณ Tunisia
๐ฟ๐ฒ Zambia
๐ฟ๐ผ Zimbabwe
๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ (21)
๐ง๐ซ Burkina Faso
๐ง๐ฎ Burundi
๐จ๐ซ Central African Republic
๐น๐ฉ Chad
๐จ๐ฉ Democratic Republic of the Congo
๐ช๐ท Eritrea
๐ช๐น Ethiopia
๐ฌ๐ฒ Gambia
๐ฌ๐ผ Guinea-Bissau
๐ฑ๐ท Liberia
๐ฒ๐ฌ Madagascar
๐ฒ๐ผ Malawi
๐ฒ๐ฑ Mali
๐ฒ๐ฟ Mozambique
๐ณ๐ช Niger
๐ท๐ผ Rwanda
๐ธ๐ฑ Sierra Leone
๐ธ๐ด Somalia
๐ธ๐ธ South Sudan
๐ธ๐ฉ Sudan
๐บ๐ฌ Uganda
โซ ๐จ๐ป๐ฐ๐น๐ฎ๐๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฑ (a temporary status generally attributed to incomplete or insufficient GNI data)
๐ช๐ญ Western Sahara
โ afridigest.com/subscribe
In Africa, Togo moved from Low income to Lower-middle income & Ethiopia moved from Unclassified to Low Income.
Here's the 2026-2027 Africa breakdown:
๐ก High income โ 1 country
๐ต Upper-middle income โ 8 coincome โ 24 countries
๐ด Low income โ 21 countries
โซ Unclassified โ 1 country
Here's the full country-by-country list:
๐ก ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ (1)
๐ธ๐จ Seychelles
๐ต ๐จ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ-๐บ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐น๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ (8)
๐ฉ๐ฟ Algeria
๐ง๐ผ Botswana
๐จ๐ป Cabo Verde
๐ฌ๐ถ Equatorial Guinea
๐ฌ๐ฆ Gabon
๐ฑ๐พ Libya
๐ฒ๐บ Mauritius
๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa
๐ฃ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ-๐บ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐น๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ (24)
๐ฆ๐ด Angola
๐ง๐ฏ Benin
๐จ๐ฒ Cameroon
๐ฐ๐ฒ Comoros
๐จ๐ฌ Congo, Rep.
๐จ๐ฎ Cรดte d'Ivoire
๐ฉ๐ฏ Djibouti
๐ช๐ฌ Egypt
๐ธ๐ฟ Eswatini
๐ฌ๐ญ Ghana
๐ฌ๐ณ Guinea
๐ฐ๐ช Kenya
๐ฑ๐ธ Lesotho
๐ฒ๐ท Mauritania
๐ฒ๐ฆ Morocco
๐ณ๐ฆ Namibia
๐ณ๐ฌ Nigeria
๐ธ๐น Sรฃo Tomรฉ and Prรญncipe
๐ธ๐ณ Senegal
๐น๐ฟ Tanzania
๐น๐ฌ Togo
๐น๐ณ Tunisia
๐ฟ๐ฒ Zambia
๐ฟ๐ผ Zimbabwe
๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ (21)
๐ง๐ซ Burkina Faso
๐ง๐ฎ Burundi
๐จ๐ซ Central African Republic
๐น๐ฉ Chad
๐จ๐ฉ Democratic Republic of the Congo
๐ช๐ท Eritrea
๐ช๐น Ethiopia
๐ฌ๐ฒ Gambia
๐ฌ๐ผ Guinea-Bissau
๐ฑ๐ท Liberia
๐ฒ๐ฌ Madagascar
๐ฒ๐ผ Malawi
๐ฒ๐ฑ Mali
๐ฒ๐ฟ Mozambique
๐ณ๐ช Niger
๐ท๐ผ Rwanda
๐ธ๐ฑ Sierra Leone
๐ธ๐ด Somalia
๐ธ๐ธ South Sudan
๐ธ๐ฉ Sudan
๐บ๐ฌ Uganda
โซ ๐จ๐ป๐ฐ๐น๐ฎ๐๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฑ (a temporary status generally attributed to incomplete or insufficient GNI data)
๐ช๐ญ Western Sahara
โ afridigest.com/subscribe
The @WorldBankGroup has released its 2026-2027 Country Income Classifications.
Six economies moved to a higher income category, and no countries moved down.
Behind those changes are different stories, from economic recovery to export-led growth and improved statistics.
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