Africa's richest man to launch Kenya oil refinery despite land protests

What the report says

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote and Kenyan President William Ruto are expected to break ground on a planned $16bn oil refinery in Lamu, on Kenya’s northern coast. According to BBC Africa, the project is intended to become East Africa’s largest industrial undertaking by capacity, with a design target of processing 700,000 barrels of crude a day once completed. Construction is due to begin on 1 November, and Dangote said he expects the refinery to be finished by 2030.

The launch comes as some local residents have protested, calling for more compensation over land linked to the project. Dangote rejected those concerns in his interview with the BBC, arguing that the company only used the land it was allocated by the government and dismissing the demonstrations as unimportant to the project’s progress. Kenya’s Energy and Petroleum Minister Opiyo Wandayi told the BBC that a refinery does not need local crude production, saying it can source oil from the wider market.

BBC Africa reported that the Lamu project is Kenya’s biggest infrastructure plan since independence and that East Africa currently has no oil refineries. Dangote, Africa’s richest man, said the refinery could create 60,000 jobs at peak construction and would also include a 1,000-megawatt power plant to support industrial activity in the area. The company says the investment forms part of Dangote’s wider push to expand manufacturing and industrial capacity across Africa by 2030.