Lamu (Kenya) (AFP) – The megarefinery for which the Nigerian Dangote group laid the foundation stone on Wednesday in Lamu, on the Kenyan coast, will open a “new chapter in the industrialization of Africa”, said its founder and CEO Aliko Dangote during the ceremony.

Published on: 09/30/2026 - 10:52 Modified on: 09/30/2026 - 15:14

Work on this future Kenyan refinery, with an announced capacity of 700,000 barrels per day, should last 30 to 40 months at a cost of around 16 billion dollars (14 billion euros), according to the Dangote group. Its founder also describes it as a further step towards the self-sufficiency of the African continent.

Africa produces several million barrels of crude oil per day, but imports 70% of the fuels it consumes, according to the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC). This pan-African financial institution warns that African dependence on fuel imports is set to increase.

The Dangote group has already commissioned in 2024 in Nigeria by far the most productive refinery in Africa, with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, which it plans to increase to 1.4 million by 2028, which would make it the largest in the world.

The ceremony organized on Wednesday at the deep-water port of Lamu, inaugurated in 2012 and near which the refinery will be built, brought together Kenyan President William Ruto, his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, as well as the heads of state of Benin Romuald Wadagni and Togo Jean-Lucien Savi de Tové.

“Headache”

"Today, Africa is gathered here in Lamu... We are united by one conviction: Africa must industrialize Africa," Dangote said in a speech.

“For too long, our continent has actually been rich in resources but poor in value creation,” he stressed. “Africa cannot build lasting prosperity by exporting what it has and importing what it needs.”

Lamu County, bordering the Indian Ocean, is best known so far for its archipelago of several small islands.

Lamu Island is home to the old town of the same name, built in the 12th century from coral rock and mangrove wood. It has been included on the world heritage list of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which describes it as "the oldest and best preserved Swahili settlement in East Africa".

The Kenyan refinery project is being challenged in court by local families who consider themselves dispossessed of their land - a court will deliver its decision on Monday - and criticized by environmental defenders, including the NGO Greenpeace which believes that it "threatens a fragile ecosystem".

Considered the richest man in Africa, Mr. Dangote assured Wednesday that he was not "frightened" by those who are dragging him before the courts, promising them "headaches."

Also making a speech on Wednesday, William Ruto, the Kenyan president, promised the residents of Lamu that their land and environmental concerns would be "taken into account".

Regional competition

If Nigeria is one of the main African producers of crude, observers are wondering about the origin of the oil which will supply the future Kenyan refinery, while the surrounding countries will soon begin to exploit their reserves.

Mr Dangote responded to journalists on Tuesday: the crude will first come from several areas outside Africa and when countries such as Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique produce in quantity, then they will have an operational refinery.

This “will not only serve Kenya, but more broadly the East Africa region,” assured Mr. Ruto, whose country plans to extract its first barrels at the beginning of 2027 in initially limited quantities.

Competing projects exist among its neighbors.

Mr. Museveni - whose country will extract its first barrels by the end of the year - confirmed the future construction in Uganda of a "small refinery" with a capacity of 60,000 barrels per day. "It's been planned for a long time. We can't change that," he explained to Lamu, noting that Africa needs "more than two or three refineries" anyway.

Uganda also signed a memorandum of understanding at the beginning of August with Tanzania and the oil brokerage group Vitol for the construction of a vast infrastructure - refinery and storage - on the Tanzanian coast - a location once envisaged by the Dangote group - the details of which are still largely unclear.

© 2026 AFP

The content you are trying to access does not exist or is no longer available.