Obasanjo, Ruto, others present as Dangote flags off $16bn refinery in Kenya

Africa’s richest businessman, Aliko Dangote, on Wednesday commenced the construction of a $16 billion oil refinery in Kenya.

Dangote, alongside Kenyan President William Ruto, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and other African leaders, performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the refinery at Lamu Port in northern Kenya.

The project is expected to become one of the largest investments in the region’s energy sector and is scheduled for completion in 2030.

The proposed refinery is expected to increase the supply of refined petroleum products within East Africa and reduce the region’s reliance on imports, while helping countries conserve foreign exchange spent on importing fuel.

Dangote said the project was conceived to help the region achieve greater self-sufficiency in refined petroleum products.

“When you look at East Africa, and indeed most of Africa’s 54 countries, they import petroleum products. Our goal is to make the region self-sufficient,” the businessman said while speaking at the ceremony.

Dangote said the refinery would build on the experience of his 700,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery in Lagos, Nigeria, while serving the wider East African market.

He disclosed that his company had offered regional governments a combined 30 per cent equity stake in the project, in a move aimed at giving participating countries a direct interest in the refinery.

He also said a $450 million engineering contract for the project had been awarded to Engineers India Limited.

The groundbreaking ceremony attracted regional and continental leaders, with Ruto joined by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Togolese President Jean-Lucien Savi de Tové.

The presence of the leaders underscored the regional importance of the project and its potential impact on energy supply, trade and industrial development across East Africa.

The refinery is to be located at Lamu Port, a major infrastructure project on Kenya’s northern coast that forms part of the country’s broader transport and trade corridor.

The Lamu Port is designed to connect Kenya’s northern region and neighbouring landlocked countries to international maritime trade routes.

With the refinery expected to be integrated into the area’s wider infrastructure network, the project could further strengthen the corridor and support the movement of petroleum products and other industrial goods across the region.

Kenyan officials estimate that East Africa’s annual demand for petroleum products is between 20 million and 30 million metric tonnes.

Industry experts have also estimated that the region would require refining capacity of more than one million barrels per day to meet its growing demand for petroleum products.

Beyond refining fuel, the project is expected to support the development of related industries, including petrochemicals and bitumen production.

It is also projected to create more than 50,000 jobs and generate wider economic opportunities through increased industrial activity, local supply chains and associated infrastructure development.

The project comes amid concerns over high fuel prices and East Africa’s continued dependence on imported refined petroleum products.

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