🇰🇪🇳🇬 Dangote launches $16bn Lamu oil refinery project amid land protest

Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote and Kenyan President William Ruto have broken ground on a $16bn oil refinery in Lamu on Kenya’s northern coast. The project is expected to process 700,000 barrels of crude oil a day when completed by 2030, making it East Africa’s largest industrial project by capacity. The launch was also attended by the leaders of Uganda, Ethiopia, Togo and Benin, and Reuters reported that Dangote has offered regional governments a combined 30% stake. Ahead of the ceremony, local residents protested over compensation for land used for the refinery.

A group of 133 Lamu residents has filed a case in Kenya’s High Court seeking to stop construction, with excavation and construction on the disputed land restricted until the next hearing on 14 October. The refinery, which will also include a 1,000-megawatt power plant, is set to become the only refinery in East Africa and Kenya’s largest infrastructure project since independence.

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@africaintel