Africa's richest man breaks ground on $16bn Kenya oil refinery despite land protests from local residents

From the Newshound archive · first published 30 September 2026 · last updated 1 October 2026.

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote and Kenyan President William Ruto have launched construction on a $16bn oil refinery in Lamu that will process 700,000 barrels of crude oil a day, making it East Africa's largest industrial project by capacity. Dangote dismissed protests by local residents demanding more compensation for land, calling them "games played by local marketers and international players." Tech giant Honeywell is among the partners involved in building the project, which is set for completion by 2030.

The refinery surpasses the $5.1bn Standard Gauge Railway as Kenya's biggest infrastructure project since independence.

'Today we are not simply breaking ground for a refinery, we're breaking ground for a new chapter in Africa's industrial journey,' Dangote declared at the launch.