Kenyan President William Ruto has described Nigeria’s Dangote Petroleum Refinery as a “masterpiece of science, engineering and art” while reaffirming Kenya’s commitment to partnering with Dangote Group on a proposed $17 billion East African Oil Refinery and Petrochemical Complex in Lamu.
Ruto made the comments after touring the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery in Lekki, Lagos, ahead of a planned groundbreaking ceremony for the Lamu project on 30 September 2026. He said the Kenyan refinery would be larger than the Nigerian facility and would transform the petroleum sector in Kenya and the wider East African region.
The proposed Lamu refinery is designed as a 700,000-barrel-per-day greenfield complex, estimated at about $17 billion. Dangote Group executives say it will be a cornerstone of the conglomerate’s ambition to build a $100 billion African industrial enterprise, with the group targeting $36 billion in revenue as it accelerates expansion across the continent.
President Ruto said the project would improve fuel reliability and security, scale up industrialisation and create about 60,000 jobs. He added that the refinery would catalyse linked industries in fertiliser, chemicals and packaging, positioning Kenya as a regional hub for petroleum processing and related manufacturing.
Discussions between Ruto, Aliko Dangote and Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) CEO Samaila Zubairu in New York focused on financing and preparations to commence construction. Ruto said Kenya is ready to “break ground on the East Africa refinery in Lamu”, describing it as a transformative project that will deepen local value addition, strengthen regional supply chains and advance the country’s industrialisation agenda.
The Lamu refinery is expected to serve not only Kenya but also Ethiopia, South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Earlier in 2026, Ruto had indicated that East African countries were discussing a joint refinery modelled on Dangote’s Nigerian plant, initially centred on Tanzania’s port of Tanga, before the Lamu site gained momentum.
The Kenya project is part of Dangote Group’s broader push into African refining, petrochemicals and fertiliser production. The group has said it plans to establish about 20 fertiliser blending plants across Africa by 2028 to meet most of the continent’s needs, building on its large urea plant in Lagos.
By replicating and scaling the integrated refinery-petrochemical-fertiliser model in East Africa, Dangote aims to reduce the region’s dependence on imported refined fuel, capture more value from local crude and create industrial ecosystems around each major complex.
The Lamu announcement comes as Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) warns local investors about unauthorised offers linked to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals initial public offering (IPO) in Nigeria. The CMA has cautioned Kenyans against investing in the Nigerian IPO through unapproved channels, even as Ruto backs the separate Lamu refinery project.
For Kenya, the Dangote partnership represents a potential leap in energy infrastructure and industrial capacity. For Dangote Group, it is a key test of whether its Nigerian refinery model can be successfully replicated in another African market, with significant implications for regional energy security, trade balances and job creation.
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