Kenya to break ground on $16bn oil refinery amid land protests
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has secured a deal with Kenyan President William Ruto to break ground on a 700,000‑barrel‑per‑day refinery set to cost $16 billion in Lamu on Kenya’s northern coast.
If completed in 2030, the plant will be the largest industrial project in East Africa and the region’s first refinery, a major step toward regional energy independence.
Opposition came from local residents who gathered to demand higher compensation for land taken for the project, sparking a small but vocal protest movement.
Dangote dismissed the demonstrations as political manoeuvres and insisted the refinery would go ahead as planned, citing the market nature of crude supplies.
During construction the project is expected to create 60,000 jobs, and it will include a 1,000‑megawatt power plant that will also feed local industries.
Critics have questioned choosing Kenya, which does not produce oil, for a refinery and suggested alternatives in Tanzania or Uganda, but Kenya’s Energy Minister Opiyo Wandayi stressed the refinery would source crude from global markets.
Dangote pointed to Singapore – a nation that imports all its crude – as a model for Kenya’s refinery prospects.
The refinery marks the largest Dangote investment outside Nigeria; he also plans to double Nigeria’s 700,000‑barrel capacity after a share offering that raised $2.1 billion earlier this month.
With a projected 10,000 megawatts of power generation across Africa by 2030, the Lamu plant exemplifies Dangote’s broader strategy to boost local processing and industrialisation.
