Dangote Performs Groundbreaking on $16B Lamu Refinery Complex in Kenya
On 30 September 2026, Dangote performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the Petrochemical Complex Project in Kenya under the overarching theme of ‘Accelerating Africa’s #Industrialization’. The Project site is at the seaport of Lamu. Mirroring the twin facility in Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria, the Lamu refinery in Kenya will have the capacity to process 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil.
In addition to the Kenyan President Wiliiam Ruto and Dangote Group Chair Aliko Dangote, several heads of state or government attended the historical event. Thus, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed were present. It is worth noting that Benin’s President Romuald Wadagni and Togo’s President Jean-Lucien Savi de Toré made the trip all the way from West Africa. Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo also made a notable appearance and also delivered a speech.
The Project is referred to as the Dangote East Africa Petroleum Refinery Complex. In addition to the oil refinery, it also comprises a 1,000-MW power plant, a fertilizer plant, and a plastics factory. As the official name implies, it ambitions to supply refined petroleum not only to Kenya, but to the wider East African region, and would thus be in competition with a similar project in Tanzania.
Ugandan President Museveni clarified his position by stating that his presence means that he supports the project morally, but prefers to reserve his financial support for his own domestic refinery. The President of Tanzania did not attend, but dispatched a high-level delegation instead. Other regional countries such as Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan also sent ministerial-level delegations.
Dangote has offered up to 30% of equity to regional nations, with Kenya, the host nation, committing at least 10% as seed capital via its National Infrastructure Fund. Furthermore, Dangote has initiated an initial public offering on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, and in the future on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, in a bid to ‘democratize the shareholding’. With the support of the Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and other financiers, the African Finance Corporation (AFC) is leading the mobilization of financing.
Already, Dangote has awarded Engineers India Limited (EIL) the technical consultancy services contract worth USD 450 million. The American firm Honeywell Technologies will provide specialized refinery technology and equipment. The Refinery is expected to be completed within 40 months by the end of 2030. It will create a massive 60,000 jobs and Dangote put it nicely that ‘anyone with an engineering degree or diploma will have a job’. As part of the Project, Dangote is taking charge of capacity building during the construction phase so that local talent can handle the operation and maintenance when the plant is ready.