Kenyan President William Ruto has cited the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos as an example of what African governments, private investors and financial institutions can achieve through collaboration, as Kenya prepares to begin construction of a major refinery in Lamu.
Ruto made the remarks on Friday, September 25, 2026, during a tour of the Dangote Refinery in the Lekki Free Zone, Lagos, at the invitation of Dangote Group President and Chief Executive Officer Aliko Dangote.
The visit came days before the planned September 30 groundbreaking for the proposed East Africa Oil Refinery in Lamu, Kenya, a project backed by Dangote and designed to process up to 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
Ruto described the Nigerian facility as a major industrial investment and pointed to its refining capacity and supporting infrastructure as evidence of the scale of investment required to build energy infrastructure in Africa.
According to his statement, the refinery produces more than 100 million litres of petrol, diesel and aviation fuel daily and uses about 120 kilometres of subsea infrastructure to move crude from ships to the facility.
The Dangote Refinery is located within the Lekki Free Zone and was inaugurated in May 2023 after an investment estimated at about $20 billion.
Dangote’s current corporate information lists the facility’s crude distillation capacity at 700,000 barrels per day, following an expansion from its earlier 650,000-barrel-per-day capacity.
The facility has therefore become a significant part of Nigeria’s downstream petroleum infrastructure, supplying refined products to the domestic market while also serving export markets.
Ruto’s tour was closely linked to Kenya’s plans to develop a new refinery in Lamu.
The proposed project is expected to have a processing capacity of up to 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day and serve markets across East and Central Africa. Kenya has scheduled the groundbreaking ceremony for September 30.
Ruto said the Kenyan refinery is expected to:
- Strengthen fuel supply and energy security;
- Support industrialisation in Kenya and the wider region;
- Create about 60,000 jobs;
- Encourage investment in related industries; and
- Support production of fertilisers, chemicals and packaging materials.
The project represents a major expansion of Dangote’s refining interests beyond Nigeria and is expected to position Kenya as a potential regional hub for refined petroleum products.
The planned Lamu refinery also illustrates the financial and logistical requirements involved in developing large-scale energy projects.
Ruto met Dangote and Africa Finance Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer Samaila Zubairu in New York on September 21 to discuss financing and preparations for the project. The Kenyan government has put the estimated investment at roughly KSh2.2 trillion, or about $17 billion.
Engineers India Limited has also secured a contract worth more than $450 million to provide project management and engineering services for the planned refinery and petrochemical complex.
However, financing is only one of the challenges facing the project. Reuters reported earlier in September that securing reliable crude supplies could present a significant hurdle because Kenya does not yet have sufficient commercial crude production to independently supply a refinery of the proposed scale.
The Nigerian refinery has become a reference point in discussions about large-scale African industrial investment because it combines refining, petrochemicals, marine infrastructure, storage and product distribution.
Dangote’s refinery currently has a 700,000-barrel-per-day crude distillation capacity, while the company has outlined an expansion pathway to 1.4 million barrels per day. Its facilities include a deepwater jetty and integrated logistics infrastructure.
Ruto’s comments therefore come as Kenya prepares to apply a similar large-scale investment approach to its own energy sector.
The Lamu project is expected to include refinery and petrochemical operations, with Kenyan authorities projecting wider industrial activity around the facility once construction is completed.
If completed as planned, the Lamu refinery could alter the flow of refined petroleum products across East and Central Africa by adding substantial regional refining capacity.
The project is expected to serve Kenya and neighbouring markets, potentially reducing some dependence on imported refined products while creating demand for associated logistics, manufacturing and energy services.
For Dangote, the project also represents a broader African industrial strategy. The company already operates across multiple African markets, while the Kenyan refinery would extend its petroleum refining footprint from West Africa into East Africa.
For Kenya, the immediate focus now shifts from planning and financing to the September 30 groundbreaking and the subsequent construction phase.
Ruto’s visit to Lagos has consequently placed the Dangote Refinery at the centre of Kenya’s latest push for large-scale energy infrastructure, while highlighting the financing, feedstock and infrastructure requirements that will determine how successfully the Lamu project progresses.
