Saipem Secures Contracts for African Urea Projects

By Simon West

Italy-headquartered Saipem has secured a brace of contracts from Dangote Fertilizer to provide technical know-how and licensing for the buildout of six fertilizer projects in Africa.

The two deals also call for the provision of basic engineering and design services for the plants. Four of the projects are located in Nigeria and two in Ethiopia.

Saipem will deploy its patented and proprietary Snamprogetti urea technology for the licensing scope, while the process engineering services will include all the technical documentation required for the construction of the urea units within the fertilizer production plants.

Once complete, the plants are each expected to have a production capacity of 4,235 tons per day of urea — the highest ever achieved worldwide, according to Saipem.

“With these new licensing and process engineering contracts, Saipem consolidates its leadership in the fertilizer sector, strengthening its presence on the continent and confirming its ability to deliver high-efficiency, low environmental impact technological solutions, and setting new standards for the sector,” the company said.

Saipem also revealed it had signed a letter of intent with Dangote to carry out front-end engineering design (FEED) for a new complex in Ethiopia. Developed with Ethiopian Investment Holdings, the project involves building a urea plant in Gode, in the Somali region, with an annual capacity of three million tons.

Saipem is a member of the Breakbulk Global Shipper Network, an extensive networking platform for executives operating at the top end of the project supply chain in sectors such as oil and gas, energy and renewables, mining and minerals, construction, forestry, industrial manufacturing and aerospace.

The next in-person meet-up for BGSN members will be at Breakbulk Middle East 2026 on 4-5 February in Dubai.