Blackstone Group has strengthened its ties to Nigeria, the West African country where it could put big money to work.
The private equity giant announced Thursday that its Black Rhino unit had appointed Lamido Sanusi as chairman of its board of directors.
The $310 billion Blackstone had announced in August 2014 that it has agreed a partnership with Dangote Industries to invest jointly up to $5 billion over the next five years in energy infrastructure projects across Sub-Saharan Africa, part of President Barack Obama’s Power Africa initiative to match private capital with continental energy needs.
No projects for the joint venture have been announced, but Blackstone is considering an investment alongside Dangote to construct pipelines to bring gas from the country’s energy-rich southern delta region to its business center, Lagos. Dangote said on Wednesday during a trip to Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode that he hopes to be able to supply Lagos with all its energy needs very soon. His group plans to invest up to $2.5 billion in the pipes, which would potentially quadruple the supply of gas to the country.
“Emir Sanusi has a comprehensive mastery of the interdependence of Africa with the global economy,” Mimi Alemayehou, chair of Blackstone African Infrastructure and managing director at Black Rhino, said in a statement. “He has the courage and integrity necessary to give us the full, candid and impartial counsel that a long-term investor in Africa needs. We are gratified and, indeed, privileged to have a partner of such immense stature alongside us as we chart our course.”
Black Rhino’s only announced project so far is a $1.4 billion oil pipeline from sea ports in Djibouti to Ethiopia, a landlocked country that now relies on trucks to bring in fuel.