Kenyan President William Ruto said his government is fast-tracking approvals for Aliko Dangote’s planned oil refinery in Lamu, seeking to clear administrative hurdles before construction begins Sept. 30. The proposed 700,000-barrel-a-day plant is designed to become a major refining and industrial hub for Kenya and neighboring East African markets.

Ruto made the remarks Friday after touring Dangote’s refinery in Lekki, Lagos, where he inspected the facility ahead of the Lamu groundbreaking. He said Kenya had secured land for the project and was working on other requirements to prevent bureaucracy from slowing construction or the refinery’s eventual operations.

The president described the project as a regional investment that could expand manufacturing, create jobs and strengthen technical skills. Dangote, meanwhile, told Ruto that the Kenyan facility would be larger in some respects than the Lagos refinery, with a 1,000-megawatt power plant, heavier processing equipment and a coker.

A bigger regional play

The scale reflects Dangote’s effort to use the Nigerian refinery as a template while adapting the Kenyan project to different crude and regional market requirements. The Lamu complex is expected to include a 1 million-ton-per-year polypropylene plant, supporting downstream industries that use the material for products such as pipes, cable coverings and furniture.

Dangote said the Lamu refinery would also include processing units that are not installed at the Lagos facility, including a coker and a vacuum distillation unit. The project is expected to process 700,000 barrels of crude a day, compared with the original 650,000-barrel-a-day design capacity of the Nigerian refinery.

Ruto said visiting the Lagos plant changed his understanding of its scale after previously seeing presentations about the investment. He said the refinery project in Kenya evolved from discussions with Dangote about building regional industrial capacity, after an earlier plan to source fertilizer from Nigeria.

The Kenyan president said the Lamu facility would serve markets beyond Kenya and that he had invited regional leaders to the groundbreaking. The project is expected to supply refined petroleum products across East Africa, although analysts have flagged questions around crude supply, financing, infrastructure and environmental approvals.

Regional ambitions

Dangote said the Kenyan project would build on experience gained from developing and operating the Nigerian refinery, while incorporating infrastructure suited to Kenya. The planned facility is part of a wider industrial complex intended to attract businesses that can use its energy, fuel and petrochemical output, extending its impact beyond refining.

Ruto also emphasized the technical opportunities expected from the investment, including work for chemical and mechanical engineers and other skilled professionals. Kenyan officials have said the wider development could create tens of thousands of jobs, while the refinery is expected to strengthen petroleum processing and industrial activity along the country’s coast.

Dangote Group Vice President Devakumar Edwin said the Lagos refinery was designed to maximize high-value petroleum production while controlling operating costs. He said the Nigerian plant was built to meet domestic demand for gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel while producing surplus volumes for export, giving the company a platform for its expansion into East Africa.