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Wia dis foto come from, William Ruto/X Published 2 hours wey don pass Read am in 5 mins Africa richest man, Aliko Dangote, go start di construction of ogbonge $16 billion, 700,000 barrel per day-capacity refinery for Lamu, Kenya, wey dey expected to be di biggest of such facility for East Africa. Di groundbreaking to kickstart di construction go hapun dis Wednesday, 30 September 2026, even though one judge for di Malindi Environment and Land Court for Kenya, bin give order say make dem put di construction on hold. Dis Kenya refinery dey come on di bak of di ogbonge success of di Dangote Refinery for Nigeria - a 650,000 bpd-capacity plant wey almost don turn di West African kontri from net importer of petroleum products to now dey export di product.
Two days ago, di kenyan President William Ruto bin visit di Dangote Refinery for Lagos Nigeria, on his way from di United Nations General Assembly, and e describe wetin im eye see as "a masterpiece". Di proposed Kenyan refinery bin first start as proposal for Dangote Refinery to export dia fertilizer product to Kenya. As at January dis year, di plan to build refinery for East Africa no even dey in place, and wen di discussion first come up, di location wey bin dey proposed na Tanga, Tanzania.
"Di discussion about di refinery bin start for late April, and wen we come for di Africa Forward Summit (in May), dat na wen we now say 'ok, di refinery go hapun, we go no check all di site for East Africa and see di one wey dey beta," Dangote tok for interview wit di BBC. Impact of di Lamu Refinery Wia dis foto come from, State House Kenya Wetin we call dis foto, Kenya President William Ruto and im deputy Kithure Kindiki inspecting heavy-duty machinery ahead of di groundbreaking ceremony for di Kenya refinery Dis proposed oil refinery dey believed to bicom gamechanger for di East African region, as sabi pipo say e go reduce di region dependence on fuel imports, make energy supply to dey stable, and boost Kenya foreign exchange wen e start to dey work. Di refinery go dey process about 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day, similar to di Dangote refinery for Lagos, Nigeria.
In terms of job creation, e dey expected say about 60,000 diret jobs go dey created wit dis new refinery wey dey come on board, according to wetin President Ruto tell tori pipo during im visit to Nigeria. Also, wen di Lamu refinery start work by 2030 as di projection be, e go bring down di cost of petroleum products, not only for Kenya but across East Africa. "Not only East Africa, most of all di 54 countries for Africa dey import petroleum products.
Wetin we dey try to do na to make sure say we bicom self-sufficient for whateva we dey consume," Dangote tell tori pipo for Nairobi on Tuesday. According to di Kenyan govment, di demand for petroleum products for di East African evri year na betwin 20 million to 30 million metric tons, so di region go need refining capacity of about one million barrels per day to meet dat demand. Di increase of petrol prices around di world sake of di US-Iran crisis also affect East Africa veri well, and e don cause protests for some kontris for di region including Kenya.
Anoda ogbonge impact of di proposed Lamu Refinery na say e go also include 1,000-megawatt power plant, wey be double of di 500-megawatt plant for di Lagos refinery. For im interview wit di BBC, Dangote say im company dey able to generate betwin 10,000 and 20,000 megawatts of electricity for di East African region by 2030. Protests ahead of di groundbreaking Wetin we call dis foto, Dangote say di protests agsinst di Lamu refinery na handwork of "games" wey local oil marketers and some international traders dey play Howeva, di proposed refinery don also face opposition from locals wey claim say govment take dia lands by force give to di Dangote group.
On Tuesday, protesters for Lamu bin clash wit police ahead of di ground breaking ceremony, sake of di gbas-gbos ova land ownership and also di issue of environmental concerns. Kenya President William Ruto and Aliko Dangote both claim say dis na sponsored protests by pipo for di oil marketing space, and dem tok say di construction go continue as planned. "You bin don hear any issue about land bifor," Dangote ask BBC tori pesin during dia interview for Nairobi.
"We know dis games. Dis game na local marketers and international traders dey play am. Nobody want Africa to develop, so dat na why we must develop Africa weda dem like am or dem no like am.
We dey move. Na moving train. Either you join am or you go dey crushed along di way," Dangote tok.
Meanwhile, a statement from di Dangote group on Tuesday tok say, even though di groundbreaking ceremony go go ahead as planned, actual construction works fit dey affected by di court ruling Crude go dey available? Critics don also question di decision to build di refinery for Kenya, wey no be oil-producing kontri, suggesting neighbouring East African kontris like Tanzania or Uganda, two kontris wey dey aim to bicom oil exporters tru di East African Crude Oil Pipeline. But Kenya Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Opiyo Wandayi tell di BBC say di location of refinery no mean say e go rely only on oil from di region.
"Refineries dey get crude oil from di (international crude oil) market. And di market dey open," Wandayi tok. Dangote also tok similar tin as e give example wit im Lagos refinery and also Singapore.
E tok say Lagos State no folo for oil-producing states for Nigeria but na dia im refinery dey located. "Singapore no dey produce one single drop of oil, yet dem get plenty refineries," Dangote tok.
Source: BBC
