Museveni Backs Regional Refineries, Renews Call for East African Integration

What the report says

President Yoweri Museveni has voiced support for Kenya’s planned Lamu refinery and said East African countries can each develop their own refining capacity while still working toward closer regional integration. According to Nile Post, he made the remarks on Wednesday during the groundbreaking for the Dangote East Africa Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals Special Economic Zone in Mokowe, Lamu County, where he appeared alongside Kenyan President William Ruto, Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote and other regional leaders.

Museveni said Uganda will continue with plans for its own refinery and suggested Tanzania should reconsider an earlier proposal for a refinery in Tanga. He argued that multiple refineries across the region would not be a problem if the countries coordinate their plans and aim to keep more value from African resources within Africa.

The Ugandan president linked the refinery discussion to a broader case for industrialization and value addition, saying countries benefit more when raw materials are processed locally rather than exported in unprocessed form. He also said deeper East African integration could expand markets, jobs and investment opportunities across borders, including in sectors such as oil, minerals and agriculture.

The Lamu project is described as a $16 billion facility with capacity to process 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Its planned role is to supply petroleum products to East African markets and beyond, making it one of the region’s major energy projects and a sign of growing competition over refining and industrial investment.