Nigeria's Dangote Group has offered East African nations a 30% equity stake in a planned refinery on Kenya's Lamu Island, according to a disclosure by Kenya's economic adviser David Ndii. The facility would have processing capacity of as much as 700,000 barrels per day and carry an estimated cost of $16 billion.
The refinery would serve Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, all nations currently dependent on fuel imports. The equity offer structures the project as a regional infrastructure asset rather than a single-country operation. Dangote has previously stated that the refinery requires security guarantees from East African governments to proceed.
Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest man according to current wealth rankings, chairs Dangote Group, a conglomerate with operations across sugar, salt, and petroleum. His Lagos-based refinery, which began operations in 2023, has a nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels per day and supplies fuel across West Africa. The Kenya project would exceed that scale and extend the group's downstream footprint into East Africa's higher-growth energy market.
The 700,000 barrel-per-day capacity would rank among the world's largest single-train refineries. For context, Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura facility in Saudi Arabia processes 550,000 barrels daily. A refinery of Kenya's intended size would process crude into transport fuels at volumes that currently move through the region via imports from the Middle East and Asia.
In August, Dangote told media outlets that political backing across the service region remained a precondition for final investment decision. The 30% equity allocation to governments converts public interest into direct ownership stakes rather than contractual agreements alone.
Capital for the remaining 70% stake has not been publicly detailed. Dangote has funded his Lagos refinery through a combination of debt and equity, borrowing roughly $3 billion from export credit agencies and development banks alongside private capital. The Kenya project's financing structure and the identity of co-investors remain undisclosed.
The refinery would compete with existing supply chains that move finished fuels by ship and truck into East Africa, a route that adds cost and supply risk. Uganda and South Sudan lack domestic refining capacity; Kenya's only operational refinery, the Mombasa facility operated by state-owned Kenya Petroleum Refining Company, processes 30,000 barrels daily. A 700,000-barrel facility would increase regional throughput by more than 20 times current Kenyan refining output.
If all six East African nations accept the equity offer, their combined 30% stake would require either a joint governance structure or individual negotiation of share sizes and board representation. The announcement of the offer does not confirm acceptance from any government; negotiations on terms and closing conditions typically span months to years for projects of this capital intensity.
