Dangote Group will begin work on its proposed $17 billion oil refinery in Kenya by the end of September, as Africa’s biggest oil-refining business expands its operations from West Africa into East Africa.
Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Group, disclosed this on Monday during the opening of the initial public offering of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE in Lagos.
The proposed refinery will be located in Lamu on Kenya’s coast and is expected to be completed within three years, according to Dangote.
The announcement comes as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s IPO opens today, with the public offer expected to raise about $1.6 billion and value the business at almost $50 billion.
The share sale has also triggered an unprecedented digital race among Nigerian stockbrokers, banks and fintech companies seeking to participate in what could become Nigeria’s largest retail-driven share sale, with the transaction targeting up to 10 million investors.
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The proposed Kenyan refinery marks a major expansion of Dangote’s refining business beyond Nigeria, extending the group’s energy footprint to East Africa and connecting its operations from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean.
Dangote said the Kenyan project is part of the group’s wider plans to take advantage of opportunities across the continent.
“There’s a lot of value in Africa. Africa is like a scratch card unless you scratch it, you will not see the use of it. The opportunities are immense,” Dangote said.
The billionaire also disclosed plans to expand the group’s energy infrastructure beyond the Kenya refinery, including a 2,650-kilometre pipeline that will run from Namibia through Botswana to South Africa.
“We are also taking up another line, which will now go to Zimbabwe,” Dangote said, adding that work on the project will start next month.
The latest timeline represents an acceleration from an earlier estimate.
In July, a spokesperson for Dangote Industries Limited said the proposed refinery would cost $17 billion and take about five years to complete.
In August, Dangote offered East African countries a combined 30 per cent equity stake in the proposed Kenyan refinery, potentially giving regional investors access to about $1.5 billion worth of the project.
David Ndii, Kenyan President William Ruto’s economic adviser, disclosed the proposal at a capital markets forum in Nairobi, saying Kenya would take a 10 per cent stake while Ethiopia and Rwanda had also expressed interest.
The Kenya project comes as Dangote prepares to open up part of its flagship Lagos refinery to public investors through the IPO, marking a major new phase for the group’s energy business.
Alex is a business journalist cum data enthusiast with the Pinnacle Daily. He can be reached via ealex@thepinnacleng.com, @ehime_alex on X