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Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has chosen Kenya as the location for a planned 700,000-barrel-per-day oil refinery that is expected to transform East Africa’s fuel market.
The mega-project will be built in Lamu, a coastal island in Kenya, according to Edwin Devakumar, Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited.
Devakumar told AFP that construction of the refinery will take about 30 months in East Africa’s largest economy.
The facility is expected to reduce the region’s dependence on imported refined fuel, despite East Africa’s significant crude oil reserves.
Tanzania had previously been considered as a possible location for the refinery before Kenya was selected.
Dangote visited Tanzania last month, where he met President Samia Suluhu Hassan and explained “the commercial and technical considerations behind the Group’s decision to locate its planned East African refinery in Lamu,” according to a statement from his office.
He also invited Tanzania to take part in the Lamu investment.
The Nigerian billionaire had earlier indicated that Mombasa was his preferred location before announcing Lamu as the final choice.
Dangote’s decision follows the success of his 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Nigeria, which began operations in 2024 and remains Africa’s largest refinery.
The businessman plans to expand the Nigerian facility’s capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day by 2028, making it the world’s largest refinery.
