Ruto launches KSh2.2 trillion Lamu refinery in East Africa’s biggest energy bet
A 700,000-barrel-a-day industrial complex signals Kenya’s determination to end Africa’s raw-material dependency
By Jane Njeri
President William Ruto yesterday presided over the groundbreaking of the Dangote East Africa Petroleum Refinery in Lamu, a KSh2.2 trillion ($16B) project billed as the largest of its kind in East and Central Africa.
Four heads of state and high-level delegations from across the continent attended the ceremony, underscoring the regional stakes of a project that Ruto described as a turning point for Africa’s industrial ambitions. “For too long, Africa has exported raw materials and imported finished products, exporting wealth and jobs,” Ruto said. “We are firm in our determination to reverse this trend.”
The refinery, developed in partnership with Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, will process 700,000 barrels of crude daily and anchor an integrated industrial complex that includes a 1,000MW power plant, a plastics factory and fertiliser and chemicals manufacturing. Economists project the project will expand Kenya’s economy by 12 per cent, attract an additional $4B in annual foreign direct investment during its four-year construction phase and create 60,000 direct jobs.
Officials said the facility will also accelerate the transformation of the Lamu Port South Sudan and Ethiopia Transport Corridor into a major industrial hub, reducing the region’s dependence on imported refined petroleum and easing pressure on foreign exchange reserves.
Africa’s resource curse — vast raw wealth leaving the continent unprocessed — has endured for generations. If this refinery delivers on its promise, Lamu may be where that story finally begins to change.
Some of the moments as captured in pictures
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