By Kamailoudini Tagba | Updated on Aug 15, 2026 at 11:53 PM
Canadian industrial energy company Zimar Inc. will build a refinery and a petrochemical complex in Niger with an estimated output of 100,000 barrels a day, state-run Radio Television du Niger reported.
“The estimated cost of the project is $1.9 billion,” Foreign Minister Bakary Sangaré told state-run Radio Television du Niger following the signing in Niger’s capital Niamey on Saturday. “The agreement takes effect upon signature, and its total term is set at 16 years, comprising 3 years of construction and 13 years of operation.”
Zimar will build the energy infrastructure in the southwestern city of Dosso, Niger, and will hand it over to the state after the 13 years of operation as part of the agreement, the report said.
The deal comes nearly two years after an initial signing in October 2024, as Niger ordered a review of the agreement and revisions, Sangaré told the state news outlet.
Niger has been ramping up efforts to harness its oil potential. This week, it launched joint drilling with Algeria on the Kafra oil block in Agadez, near the border with the North African country.
On Friday, with the help of Algerian energy giant Sonatrach SpA, Niger loaded its first cargo of Meleck crude oil from Sèmè oil terminal in Benin, Algeria’s state-run news agency Algeria Press Service reported.
Niger, according to authorities, holds reserves estimated at approximately 3 billion barrels.