NAIROBI, Kenya — Nigerian multinational industrial conglomerate Aliko Dangote is considering Mombasa as the preferred location for a proposed 650,000-barrel-per-day oil refinery in East Africa, according to an interview published by the Financial Times.
Dangote said he was leaning towards Mombasa because of its strategic maritime infrastructure and stronger market potential compared to alternative regional locations.
“I’m leaning more towards Mombasa because Mombasa has a much larger, deeper port,” Dangote said in the interview.
The billionaire industrialist added that Kenya offered a larger consumer market and stronger economic fundamentals than neighbouring countries.
“Kenyans consume more. It’s a bigger economy,” he said.
Dangote further indicated that the final decision would depend heavily on support from President William Ruto and the Kenyan government.
“The ball is in the hands of President Ruto. Whatever President Ruto says is what I’ll do,” he stated.
According to the report, the proposed refinery would cost between $15 billion and $17 billion to construct, making it one of the largest industrial investments in the region’s history.
The project would mirror the scale of the Dangote Refinery in Lagos, currently Africa’s largest refinery with a processing capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
The development comes weeks after President Ruto disclosed that East African governments were discussing plans for a joint regional refinery at Tanga in Tanzania.
The proposal is aimed at reducing East Africa’s heavy dependence on imported refined petroleum products.
Currently, countries across the region import nearly all refined fuel products, largely from the Middle East, exposing local economies to global supply disruptions and price volatility.
Recent geopolitical tensions, including conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran, have intensified concerns over energy security and fuel costs globally.
Dangote had earlier hinted at plans to expand refinery investments into East Africa during an infrastructure summit held in Nairobi last month.
At the event, he said replicating the Nigerian refinery model in East Africa would depend on whether governments in the region provided policy support, infrastructure guarantees, and favourable investment conditions.
