Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President, Dangote Refinery, Lekki, Lagos
Less than two years after the commissioning of its Nigeria’s 650,000bpd refinery in Lekki, Lagos, Africa’s richest investor and President of Dangote Industries, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has started works on its proposed $17bn, 700,000-barrels-per-day refinery in Kenya.
The Kenyan move, marks the first major step towards what is expected to become East Africa’s largest refining project.
The company said the project has advanced beyond the planning stage, with the site already selected, soil tests ongoing and engineering and design work underway ahead of construction.
According to Reuters, the refinery, which will be located on Lamu Island off the Kenyan coast, is expected to take about three years to complete and will supply refined petroleum products to Kenya and neighbouring countries, reducing East Africa’s dependence on imported fuels.
The development comes as Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, plans to build the refinery at an estimated cost of up to $17bn as part of efforts to expand his refining empire into East Africa.
Citing a spokesman for Dangote Industries Ltd., Bloomberg reported that the proposed refinery would replicate the company’s refinery in Lagos and process about 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day when completed.
The report read, “A new mega-refinery to be built at the Kenyan coast by Africa’s richest person will cost as much as $17bn, a spokesman for Dangote Industries Ltd. has confirmed.
“Billionaire Aliko Dangote personally pledged to the leaders of Kenya and Uganda that he would set up a replica of his 700,000-barrel-a-day refinery outside Lagos in East Africa. The refinery would take about five years to build.”
