The groundbreaking of Aliko Dangote’s Shs2.2 trillion East Africa Oil Refinery in Kenya turned into more than the launch of a giant energy project.
Behind the shovels, presidential speeches and promises of thousands of jobs was a broader African industrial argument — over who controls manufacturing, whether African investors can build continent-scale businesses and how governments should treat investors seeking to turn local raw materials into finished products.
The ceremony in Lamu County brought together Kenyan President William Ruto, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, Togolese President Jean-Lucien Savi, Benin’s Romuald Wadagni and former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who joined Nigerian billionaire Dangote at the launch.
The refinery is planned to process about 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day and is expected to be completed within 40 months. The project is intended to serve Kenya and the wider East African market, reducing dependence on imported refined petroleum products.
But even as leaders celebrated the oil project, the ceremony unexpectedly reopened memories of one of Africa’s fiercest industrial battles: the struggle between Dangote’s cement empire and the French multinational Lafarge.
That history gave the Lamu launch a significance beyond petroleum.
Museveni used the occasion to make clear that Uganda’s own refinery ambitions would not be abandoned simply because a much larger regional refinery is being built in Kenya.
“I support it, but I have invested in Tanga. I also discussed with Dangote to construct one in Uganda. We can have as many refineries as possible, one in Tanga, Lamu and Uganda. Iran has nine refineries,” said Museveni.
The Ugandan President has long argued that African countries should add value to their raw materials instead of exporting them and buying back finished products.
His position means the Lamu refinery is being presented not as a replacement for Uganda’s refinery plans, but as part of a possible network of refineries serving different markets.
Abiy similarly framed the refinery as a regional rather than purely Kenyan investment.
“This project will connect regional markets. It will create opportunities for trade and investment,” Abiy Ahmed added.
Togo’s Savi described the project in terms of the value chain it could create.
“The Lamu refinery is an impactful project that goes a long way toward reducing Kenya’s quantity of imported products. It will create a value chain.”
The leaders also called on governments, political leaders and communities affected by major investments to cooperate with investors and create conditions that allow projects to proceed.
It was Obasanjo who shifted the ceremony from the future of oil to the history of African manufacturing.
The former Nigerian leader used Dangote’s refinery launch to revisit the billionaire’s earlier battle to establish himself as a major cement producer across Africa.
“The people who really didn’t want Aliko to succeed in the cement business were people called Lafarge, and they put every obstacle on Aliko’s way, just as they are still doing to us today. The experience of Senegal was the one that was traumatic,” said Obasanjo.
Obasanjo recalled Dangote’s experience in Senegal, where the Nigerian businessman had completed a five-million-tonne cement plant but, according to Obasanjo, could not begin production for two years because of a legal dispute.
“For two years he could not do anything. Lafarge instigated some law. They went to court, Aliko won, and Aliko had to pay 12 million dollars to be able to operate his cement factory, two years after it had been completed. Lafarge wanted to get Aliko not to produce cement in Africa. They wanted to monopolise. Lafarge is now out of Africa,” Obasanjo stated.
He then issued a broader appeal to African governments and citizens to support locally rooted investors.
“Lafarge Africa, which wanted to dominate Africa, is out of Africa today. Let’s support our very own investors,” Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo noted.
He later added: “Let us support fellow Africans who want to bring transformative change on the continent.”
The cement episode became particularly relevant because Dangote himself had once targeted Kenya for a major cement investment.
Dangote announced plans for a $400 million cement plant in Kenya in 2013 and later explored limestone opportunities in Kitui, but the project was eventually dropped in 2018. The reasons surrounding that failed investment have since been described differently by Dangote and his company’s executives.
Ruto offered his own account of the transformation of Kenya’s cement industry.
He said his administration introduced a levy on imported cement in 2023 because Kenya had the raw materials needed to produce cement locally.
“In 2023, I made the same decision that we are not going to be importing cement when we have all the material in Kenya. And we put a levy on the import of cement, and Lafarge, who were investors in Kenya, left. Today the cement industry in Kenya is controlled by East Africans, Kenyans and my good friends from Tanzania,” he said.
Ruto also said Lafarge had been unwilling to invest more in expanding production capacity in Kenya and instead wanted to continue importing clinker.
“In fact, the person who drove Lafarge from Kenya is sitting right here, that young man there called Adan. They could not agree to put more money into expanding their facilities in Kenya. They wanted to continue importing clinker from elsewhere. I am very happy that Bamburi Cement, under the new management, are now putting up a new facility to expand cement production in Kenya,” said Ruto.
The remarks effectively connected Dangote’s unsuccessful Kenyan cement venture to the larger question surrounding the Lamu refinery: whether Africa can create an investment environment in which local and African capital is able to build large-scale manufacturing capacity.
That question is particularly relevant because the refinery will depend not only on crude oil but also on a vast network of transport, engineering, construction, logistics, accommodation, food supply and other services.
Ruto told Lamu residents that the refinery would not be allowed to become an isolated industrial enclave.
He assured residents of Mokowe and Chandavai, some of whom have gone to court over compensation and ownership of the more than 7,000-acre site, that their concerns would be handled according to the law.
“Land matters will be handled lawfully and fairly. Wages per month will be Ksh.2 billion monthly. Mradi huu hautafanyika pembeni bali utawajumuisha nyote. Mtafanya kazi hapa. Mtatoa huduma hapa. Mtajenga biashara hapa. Na mtastawi pamoja na Lamu,” Ruto said.
Ruto said the construction phase alone could generate a monthly wage bill of about Ksh2 billion.
“At peak, the construction wages could reach Ksh.2 billion. A project of this size needs transport, food, accommodation, maintenance, construction materials, logistics and professional services. The people, beginning with those of Lamu, must know what is needed, what standards apply and prepare to take part,” Ruto said.
The President said the project would create more than 60,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Dangote separately committed to establishing a training school in Lamu capable of preparing 1,000 local people for opportunities associated with the refinery.
“I want to promise you that we will come back and commission this refinery 40 months from today. We will set up a training school in Lamu which will train 1,000 of your people. Anybody who has an engineering diploma or degree has a job,” Dangote said.
The project’s promised benefits therefore extend beyond the refinery itself, with the construction expected to generate demand for suppliers, transporters, contractors, professionals and small businesses.
Dangote’s promise to finish the refinery within 40 months immediately became one of the ceremony’s defining moments.
“I want to promise you that we will come back and commission this refinery 40 months from today. We will set up a training school in Lamu which will train 1,000 of your people. Anybody who has an engineering diploma or degree has a job,” Dangote said.
Ruto responded by warning the billionaire that Kenyans would remember the deadline.
“You said you will be back here in 40 months to open this refinery. Kenyans are very good in keeping data. I want to warn you. They normally take me to task every time I give them a time frame,” Ruto said.
The deadline puts a precise timeline on what is being billed as one of Kenya’s largest industrial investments.
Museveni also used the occasion to raise another issue that has repeatedly confronted major African investments — the cost of doing business and allegations of corruption.
“Dangote would have come a long time ago. I didn’t know some people wanted bribes,” Museveni said.
His remark echoed Dangote’s earlier explanation for why his proposed Kenyan cement investment failed to materialise.
The billionaire has previously said his company does not pay bribes and had blamed demands for payments during the administration of former President Uhuru Kenyatta. Dangote Cement’s chief executive has since given a different explanation, saying Kenya lacked a limestone deposit that was sufficiently large, clean and conveniently located for the company’s needs.
The competing explanations have now become part of the wider history surrounding Dangote’s relationship with Kenya.
The Lamu ceremony also carried a wider regional endorsement.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan were unable to attend personally but sent representatives.
“Kagame has expressed his unwavering support,” said Ruto.
The presence or representation of leaders from across the region reflected the intended market for the refinery, which is designed to serve consumers beyond Kenya.
The project has therefore been presented by its backers as a regional energy and industrial undertaking rather than simply a Kenyan refinery.
The political and industrial enthusiasm surrounding the refinery has, however, been accompanied by resistance from some residents.
The groundbreaking followed protests and petitions over the land earmarked for the project, with residents raising questions about ownership and compensation. A court case involving residents seeking redress over the land has also emerged around the project.
Ruto sought to reassure the affected communities that the government would handle the land question lawfully.
At the same time, Dangote signalled that legal challenges would not persuade him to abandon the investment.
“We are not scared of people taking us to court. Anybody who wants to cause trouble, we are ready for his trouble and we will give him a headache,” Dangote said.
Ruto also sustained his criticism of opposition figures whom he accused of attempting to undermine the investment.
“I want to tell those brokers there will be nobody who will talk to you. Hiyo vita yenu baridi, huyu bwana amesema yuko tayari,” Ruto said.
That leaves the Lamu refinery facing two very different tests at once: delivering the industrial transformation promised by its backers while navigating the legal and community disputes surrounding the land on which it is being built.
For Dangote, however, the symbolism of Lamu extends far beyond petroleum.
His earlier battles in cement — particularly his account of confronting established multinational interests — have become part of the story he now brings to oil.
And for the African leaders gathered in Lamu, the refinery offers another opportunity to test the proposition that Africa should not remain primarily a supplier of raw materials, but should increasingly build the factories, refineries and industrial value chains that turn those resources into finished products.
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