Dangote Sets Aside 30% Refinery Stake for East African Countries

What the report says

Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote has said East African countries will be offered as much as 30% of the equity in a planned $16 billion refinery project, giving regional governments a direct financial stake in the venture. According to Nile Post, the announcement was made on Wednesday at the groundbreaking for the Dangote East Africa Petroleum Refinery and petrochemicals special economic zone in Mokowe, Lamu County, Kenya.

Dangote said the project is intended to serve a broad regional market that includes Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Zambia and others. He said the equity offer would allow participating countries to share in profits from the refining and export of petroleum products. He also said Kenya and Rwanda had moved quickly to take up the opportunity.

The article says the refinery is expected to create jobs and wider industrial activity beyond fuel production, including opportunities for engineers, technicians and entrepreneurs. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who attended the ceremony, said the project could help reduce East Africa’s dependence on fuel refined outside the continent and support related trade and investment.

Nile Post reported that the refinery is planned to process 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day and will be linked to an industrial complex that includes power generation, plastics, fertiliser and chemical production. The project is part of the larger LAPSSET Corridor in Kenya.