Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote launched a $2.5 billion fuel storage and regional pipeline project in Namibia's Walvis Bay on Wednesday (November 4) that could reshape the fuel supply architecture in Southern Africa.

The project is one of a slew of energy ventures championed by Dangote, Africa's richest man, as he expands his sprawling business empire on a continent heavily reliant on imported fuels and hard-hit by the Iran war.

Dangote already operates Africa's biggest refinery in Nigeria, a 700,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) plant, which he is expanding, with plans to build another 700,000 bpd refinery in Kenya on the opposite side of the continent.

At a launch ceremony attended by Namibian President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Dangote said that the pipeline project, once complete, would strengthen the energy independence of six African countries and help establish Walvis Bay as a fuel logistics hub.

The tank farm will have storage capacity of approximately 600 million litres, or some 4 million barrels, with 360 million litres of diesel and the remainder petrol.

(Editing: Thuli Tshabalala. Production: Sharon Rufaro, Thuli Tshabalala. Writing: Wendell Roelf)