NAIROBI, Kenya- President William Ruto has announced that construction of a multibillion-dollar oil refinery in Lamu will be launched on September 30, 2026, alongside Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote and other African heads of state.
Ruto said the proposed refinery formed part of the government’s plan to process natural resources locally and reduce Kenya’s reliance on imported petroleum products.
“We will launch the construction of the refinery in Lamu on September 30, with Dangote and other heads of state,” Ruto said.
The identities of the other leaders expected to attend the ceremony have not been announced.
The Dangote Group plans to construct the facility within the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor Special Economic Zone.
The proposed plant is expected to cost between $15 billion and $16 billion—approximately Sh1.9 trillion to Sh2.1 trillion—and have the capacity to process about 700,000 barrels of crude oil daily.
Construction is projected to continue until 2030.
If completed as planned, the facility would produce petrol, diesel, aviation fuel and other petroleum products for Kenya and neighbouring countries.
The refinery would be Dangote’s second major petroleum-processing facility after the company’s plant in Lagos, Nigeria. The Nigerian refinery began production in 2024 and has a capacity of about 700,000 barrels per day.
Turkana pipeline talks
Ruto said the government was also discussing the construction of a crude oil pipeline to connect Turkana’s oilfields to the planned refinery in Lamu.
“We are also discussing the construction of a crude oil pipeline in Turkana to unlock the region’s oil potential,” the President said.
The proposed pipeline would transport crude from the South Lokichar Basin in Turkana County to the Indian Ocean coast.
Kenya discovered commercially viable oil deposits in Turkana in 2012, but the country has yet to begin full-scale commercial production.
A pilot programme transported crude oil from Turkana to Mombasa by road between 2018 and 2020. The oil was then exported as part of efforts to test the market and assess its quality.
Earlier plans included an export pipeline running for about 800 kilometres from Lokichar to Lamu, but the project stalled because of its cost and delays in reaching a final investment decision.
The government has not disclosed the estimated cost, construction period or financing structure for the latest pipeline proposal.
It has also not announced whether the pipeline would be developed as part of the Dangote refinery project or through a separate partnership.
Questions over crude supply
The planned Lamu refinery requires a secure and consistent supply of crude oil to operate at its intended capacity.
Kenya’s Turkana fields are yet to enter commercial production, meaning the refinery may initially rely on crude delivered by sea or supplied by other oil-producing countries.
The proposed facility will also require supporting infrastructure, including storage terminals, marine facilities, roads, electricity and water.
Ruto has said the refinery will support Kenya’s policy of processing natural resources locally instead of exporting them in raw form.
The government expects the project to create jobs, attract related industries and position Lamu as an energy and logistics centre serving East Africa.
