Africa’s richest man Dangote eyes Kenya for new refinery

ABUJA, Nigeria 

Aliko Dangote, Africa’s wealthiest industrialist, is eyeing Kenya as the site of a huge 650,000-barrel-a-day oil refinery he intends to build in east Africa, he told the FT, after questions over a previous push to build it in Tanzania. 

Tanzanian President Samia Hassan last week complained angrily to her Kenyan counterpart William Ruto that she had not been consulted over the earlier plan to build it on her country’s coastline, which was announced in her absence last month at an infrastructure summit. 

Dangote said in an interview: “I’m leaning more towards Mombasa because Mombasa has a much larger, deeper port.”

He compared Kenya’s port to Tanga, the proposed Tanzanian site for the refinery to process oil from Uganda and the open market. 

Dangote estimated it would cost $15bn-$17bn to build. 

“Kenyans consume more. It’s a bigger economy,” he said, adding that crude oil for the refinery could be transported by ship and need not be located near a pipeline that will carry oil nearly 1,500 kilometres from Ugandan oilfields to the Tanzanian coast at Tanga. 

“The ball is in the hands of President Ruto,” he said. “Whatever President Ruto says is what I’ll do.” He said. 

For the east African refinery to get off the ground, Dangote said, he would need Ruto to offer land, some east African finance and, most important, protection from what he called dumping of cheap fuel from the likes of Russia or India. 

“There is no refinery in the world that can survive without that protection,” he said. “If we have an agreement, we can start this year.” 

Tanzania’s president this month complained to her Kenyan counterpart after he and Dangote jointly announced the plan to build it in her country. 

“Why did you announce a refinery in Tanga, and I know nothing about it?” she said she had told Ruto in a private meeting. 

Industry analysts have speculated that Dangote might be trying to get a better deal by playing the east African neighbours off against each other. 

He told the FT he could still build the refinery in Tanzania “if they are able to sort themselves out”.