Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has revealed that the idea to build a major oil refinery in Lamu emerged from discussions he had with the Kenyan Government, initially with Tanzania’s Tanga being considered as the preferred location.
Dangote said the proposed refinery was first discussed during a meeting in Nairobi after he was invited to a conference by the Managing Director of African Finance Corporation.
He said President William Ruto, who was then Deputy President, also wanted to meet him to discuss the supply of fertiliser, with the discussions eventually shifting to plans for an oil refinery.
“It started as a discussion between myself and the Managing Director of African Finance Corporation, when he invited me to Nairobi for a conference and the President wanted to see me to discuss supply of fertilizer, and at that meeting we were talking about refinery and we said, ‘Okay, yes, we will now do it,’ initially thinking of Tanga because of the pipeline from Uganda into Tanga,” he said.
Dangote said subsequent assessments found Lamu more suitable because of its access to water, sea depth and availability of land.
“Later on, the most suitable place we realized we can put up this refinery, where they have enough water, depth in terms of the sea, and good land, is Lamu, and that’s why we decided not Mombasa, not Tanga, but Lamu,” Dangote said.
Dangote addresses corruption concerns
The industrialist also spoke about attempts to establish his investments in Kenya, saying he had encountered challenges that he associated with corruption.
Dangote said he and Ruto, who was then Deputy President, once travelled together to see the President after he raised concerns over what had happened.
“We tried to, even that time, when I went to the current President, he was then Deputy President, he personally put me in his car and said that let’s go to the President, tell him what happened,” he added
Dangote said his company had refused to engage in bribery because of its corporate obligations and its belief that its investments would create employment and economic opportunities.
“The corruption takes two people to activate it, the person asking and the giver, but we don’t give because we believe we are bringing jobs and prosperity to the country, and we are a listed company, if we are found giving bribes, definitely we will go to jail,” Dangote said.
Kenya a key Dangote investment market
Dangote said Kenya remains a major investment destination for his business empire in East Africa, with plans extending beyond the proposed refinery.
He said the group is also investing in fertiliser production and a major blending plant in the country.
“We are opening fertilizer, we are opening a blending plant, a big one, and Kenya is one market that we don’t actually play with, as we speak, outside Nigeria, our next biggest investment is East Africa,” he added.
He said the proposed refinery alone represents a $16 billion investment, describing it as the largest investment by an African investor on the continent.
“Kenya is one because, by the time we finish investing here, just this refinery alone is $16 billion, and it’s the largest investment that an African invested in Africa,” Dangote added.
Refinery to tap regional crude
Dangote said the refinery would benefit from crude production expected to begin in Kenya and Uganda, alongside production from other East African countries.
He said the refinery’s planned capacity could eventually reach 700,000 barrels per day as regional crude production expands.
“Kenya will start producing crude very soon, Uganda is going to start very soon, and other neighboring countries in East Africa will start producing their own crude. We are not yet there with 700,000, but it will happen,” he added.
The comments point to Dangote’s ambition to position the Lamu facility as a regional refinery capable of serving growing petroleum demand across East and Central Africa.
Dangote plans power investment
Beyond petroleum products, Dangote said his investments in Kenya and the wider region would extend into the energy sector.
He said the group plans to supply products including jet fuel, diesel, gasoline, polypropylene and base oil, while also investing in power generation.
“We are not only supplying jet fuel, diesel, gasoline, polypropylene, base oil, but we are also going to participate in increasing the power that Kenya generates, because one of the things slowing the growth of Africa is lack of electricity, lack of power, and we are saying 10,000 megawatts,” Dangote said.
Dangote said his group plans to invest $50 billion across different industries over the next four years, with power generation forming part of the investment programme.
“We have a lot of resources, that’s why we are investing 50 billion dollars in different industries in the next four years, and one of which is power, and what we are bringing, this industry, is just the base, by the time we finish, in four, five years’ time, when you go to Lamu, you will see that it is totally a different industrial sector in Kenya,” he said.
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