President William Ruto with the President and CEO of Dangote Industries, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, and the CEO of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), Samaila Zubairu, following talks on the financing and final preparations for the East Africa refinery project in Lamu, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, USA/PCSPresident William Ruto has said Kenya is ready to break ground on the East Africa refinery in Lamu, a project he says will boost regional energy security and support industrialisation.
Ruto said he held talks with Dangote Industries President and CEO Aliko Dangote and Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) CEO Samaila Zubairu on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The discussions focused on financing and final preparations for the commencement of the project.
He said the refinery would create new economic opportunities, strengthen regional supply chains and position East Africa as a competitive energy and industrial hub.
“We are ready to break ground on the East Africa refinery in Lamu, a transformative project that will enhance the region’s energy security, deepen local value addition, create jobs and advance our industrialisation agenda,” Ruto said.
“The refinery will unlock new economic opportunities, strengthen regional supply chains and position East Africa as a competitive energy and industrial hub,” he said.
Ruto said the government was focused on moving the project from planning to implementation and ensuring it delivers economic benefits to people in the region.
“We are focused on turning this landmark project into reality and delivering tangible benefits for the people of the region,” he said.
Kenya is set to break ground for the much anticipated Sh2.2 trillion East Africa oil refinery in Lamu by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote on September 30.
On Wednesday, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki chaired a high-level inter-ministerial and inter-agency meeting to prepare for the ceremony, describing the project as a “one-in-a-generation investment”.
The Government expects the wider development to create more than 60,000 jobs, about half of them skilled, while anchoring a new petrochemical and industrial complex on the Coast.
The refinery is designed to process 700,000 barrels of crude oil a day, making it the largest refinery in East Africa and one of Africa’s biggest.
Dangote expects the plant to be completed by around 2030.
Kindiki said that the strategic prize for Kenya is not simply replacing imported petrol and diesel.
"It is shifting the country from being predominantly a fuel importer to becoming a regional processing and distribution hub."
Kenya spent about Sh511.5 billion on petroleum products last year, making fuel the country’s largest import bill.
A domestic refinery of this scale could retain a substantial share of that value within the economy while reducing exposure to disruptions in international shipping routes and global crude and refined-product prices.
The plant is also being designed around Lamu’s emerging role as the gateway to the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) corridor.
Its proximity to a deep-water port provides an avenue for importing crude, exporting refined products and developing storage, logistics, petrochemicals and manufacturing around the facility.
Even so, the project faces a fundamental feedstock test, with the country currently lacking commercial-scale crude production.
Government advisers have estimated that East African producers could eventually provide more than 600,000 barrels per day, including roughly 350,000 barrels from South Sudan, 250,000 from Uganda and 120,000 from Kenya.
