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18 June, 2026Five IndustriALL-affiliated unions met in Lagos on 27-28 May to agree a co-ordinated response to labour rights violations across the Dangote Group. The meeting produced an action plan to build a continent-wide trade union network spanning Dangote's growing African operations.
The agenda includes mapping the workforce across Africa and mounting organising campaigns. Unions will also monitor labour rights abuses and develop common demands around collective bargaining, workplace safety, freedom of association and social dialogue.
The unions were the National Union of Petroleum & Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Petroleum & Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN), Chemical and Non-Metallic Products Senior Staff Association (CANMPSSAN) and the National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers (NUTGTW).
Unions fight back
The meeting follows years of documented exploitation across the Dangote Group. Casual and contract workers receive lower wages and fewer protections than permanent staff. Health and safety standards are poor and the group refuses meaningful collective bargaining even where unions are organized.
In September 2025, the US$20 billion Dangote Refinery on the outskirts of Lagos dismissed 800 workers the day after they joined PENGASSAN. Management attributed the dismissals to a restructuring prompted by alleged acts of sabotage, while unions called it victimisation.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) sided with the unions. NLC president, Joe Ajaero, accused Dangote of forcing workers into company-controlled unions, violating their freedom of association and undermining collective bargaining. The NLC accused Dangote of breaching Nigerian law and ILO Conventions 87 and 98, both ratified by Nigeria, which guarantee freedom of association and the right to organize.
The move is significant given the Dangote Group’s expanding footprint across Africa. Its operations include petroleum refining and cement plants in Ethiopia, Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The group also runs a fertiliser complex exporting across the continent and has ambitions in power generation. The group employs tens of thousands of workers across Nigeria and has operations in more than a dozen African countries. Yet for many of those workers, the right to join a union has remained violated.
The company network will bring together unions organising across Dangote’s African operations. It will facilitate information-sharing and mutual solidarity. The network will also support campaigns in countries where the group is newer and union presence is thinner.
Oluchi Amaogu, NUPENG assistant general secretary, said:
“We are stronger when we stand together. This meeting marks an important step towards building a united trade union voice across Dangote operations. Through solidarity, organisation and determination we can strengthen workers’ rights and ensure that growth and development deliver benefits for working people.”
Tom Grinter, IndustriALL director for chemicals and pharmaceuticals, pulp and paper, rubber and materials, said:
“The Dangote Group is an industrial conglomerate that spans the continent and cannot be allowed to violate workers’ rights. This is why unions are jointly organizing.”