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Nigerian businessman and Chairman of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has said Africa could become largely self-sufficient in refined petroleum products by 2030 as he prepares to begin construction of a $16 billion refinery in Kenya.
The planned refinery, to be located in Lamu on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast, will have a capacity of 700,000 barrels per day. Construction is expected to take about 30 months.
Speaking to reporters in Nairobi on Tuesday, Dangote said the project was part of a broader effort to increase refining capacity within Africa and reduce the continent’s dependence on imported petroleum products.
“By 2030, the majority of African countries will be self-sufficient. It does not matter where it is refined, but it should be in the African continent, on the soil of Africa,” he said.
Dangote said Africa needed to move away from exporting raw materials and instead develop industries capable of producing finished goods within the continent.
He described the Kenyan refinery as an important starting point, rather than the final stage of his investment plans in the region.
“When you talk about 700,000 barrels per day, it’s actually small. For the region, it’s a big refinery, it’s a big investment, but it is a start-up,” Dangote said.
“This refinery is not all we are going to do there. It’s just the start… You will see the number of industries that will come around the refinery,” he added.
The project is expected to serve growing demand for petroleum products in East Africa, with Dangote saying the refinery would source crude from several locations.
He said supplies could come from the Middle East, the United States and other markets, while the facility would also be positioned to process crude as countries such as Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique increase production.
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“You don’t go and build a refinery for only one source of crude. You take different types: Middle Eastern crude, American, WTI, so you mix them up,” he said.
Dangote also dismissed concerns over opposition to the Lamu project, including a land rights case and objections from environmental groups.
“There’s actually no problem with these sort of cases,” he said, adding that some opposition came from people who did not want development in Africa.
The refinery project is facing a legal challenge over land rights, while environmental campaigners have raised concerns about its potential impact on the Lamu area. Kenya’s High Court has ordered the preservation of parts of the project site pending proceedings in the case.
Dangote said Africa’s growing population and economic needs made it necessary to expand refining and industrial capacity now rather than wait for local crude production to increase significantly.
“Are we going to wait until (Africa has) one quarter of the world’s population before we start thinking of what to do? We have to start addressing that issue today,” he said.
He identified Africa’s continued export of raw materials as one of the continent’s major economic challenges.
“The biggest problem is that we export raw materials at maybe 5 to 10 percent of its value, and then we end up buying at 100 percent of its value,” Dangote said.
He argued that processing raw materials locally would create more jobs and retain greater economic value within African countries.
The Kenyan project is modelled partly on Dangote’s refinery in Nigeria, which has become a major refining facility on the continent. The company has also announced plans to expand the Nigerian refinery’s capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day by 2028.
