Five African Heads of state broke ground for a $16 billion oil refinery in Kenya’s coastal town of Lamu on Wednesday, 30 September 2026, amid calls for the continent to process more of its natural resources locally.
The facility is expected to take 40 months to complete and will have the capacity to refine 700,000 barrels of oil a day. Kenyan President William Ruto joined leaders from Uganda, Ethiopia, Togo and Benin, alongside former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, for the ceremony.
Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote, whose Dangote Group will build the refinery and holds a stake in the project, said Africa needed to take greater responsibility for its industrial development. “Africa must industrialize Africa,” he said, adding that the continent could not continue “exporting what it has and importing what it needs”.
The refinery is expected to source crude oil from neighbouring countries. However, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said his country would proceed with plans to construct its own smaller refinery, arguing that the region needed several facilities. “For Ugandan crude, I didn’t want to export any crude, I wanted to refine it locally,” he said.
Dangote said demand across East Africa exceeded the proposed refinery’s daily capacity, providing a substantial regional market for its output. The project was initially earmarked for Tanzania’s coastal town of Tanga. Dangote said Lamu was subsequently selected because of its deeper waters, access to the sea and ground capable of supporting heavy equipment.
Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and Tanzania also sent delegations to the groundbreaking ceremony. However, the project faces land and environmental concerns. A lawsuit brought by residents claiming ownership of the proposed site remains unresolved. Dozens of protesters demonstrated in Lamu on Tuesday, 29 September, demanding additional compensation, while environmental activists warned that the refinery could threaten the coastal marine ecosystem.