Dangote refinery puts Kenya’s oil in focus

Aliko Dangote, the Nigerian billionaire, and Kenya’s President William Ruto inaugurated a $16bn (£12bn) oil refinery in Lamu, Kenya. The refinery, slated to be East Africa's largest, boasts a capacity to process 700,000 barrels of crude oil daily. Prior to the launch, local residents staged protests demanding more compensation for the land utilized for the project.

Dangote, Africa's wealthiest man, dismissed the demonstrations as mere games, stating that the refinery would proceed as planned and be operational by 2030. The project's leaders included those from Uganda, Ethiopia, Togo, and Benin, with Dangote offering them a 30% stake in the refinery. He emphasized that the initiative symbolized African unity in industrial advancement, likening the refinery to a new chapter in Africa's development.

Dangote also addressed compensation claims, asserting that the company only utilized the land it required from what the government provided. Environmental concerns were raised by Walid Ali, co-founder of the Save Lamu campaign, who demanded the environmental impact assessment findings. Dangote countered by questioning the demonstrators' motives, suggesting they were not protesting their own development.

The refinery, Kenya's largest infrastructure project post-independence, surpassed the country's previously largest, the Standard Gauge Railway ($5.1bn). Critics argue the location is questionable, given Kenya's status as a non-oil-producing nation and suggesting Tanzania or Uganda as alternatives, both of which are transitioning towards oil exports via the East African Crude Oil Pipeline.