“I Didn’t Anticipate This Scale”: Kenya's president reacts after touring Dangote Refinery in Lagos
- Kenyan President William Ruto praised the Dangote Refinery during his visit to Lagos, describing it as a major engineering achievement
- Aliko Dangote said his group plans to invest almost $50 billion across Africa, including major energy projects in Kenya
- Dangote is planning a $15 billion–$16 billion, 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Lamu, Kenya, expected to begin construction on September 30
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Legit.ng journalist Victor Enengedi has over a decade's experience covering energy, MSMEs, technology, banking and the economy.
Kenyan President William Ruto has praised the Dangote Refinery, describing the massive facility in Lagos as a remarkable combination of science, engineering and creativity.
Ruto made the remarks on Friday, September 25, 2026, during a tour of the 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery in the Lekki area of Lagos.
Source: UGC
The Kenyan president, who was accompanied by his wife, Rachel Ruto, said the scale of the project exceeded his expectations.
“I always knew Nigerians to be very great people, very aggressive go-getters. But I didn’t anticipate that it was at this scale,” Ruto said during the visit.
According to Premium Times, Ruto also expressed Kenya’s support for Dangote Group’s wider plans to expand its investments across Africa.
“I just want to tell the Dangote family here that the government of Kenya is 100 per cent behind this goal, our goal,” he added.
Dangote plans major investment in Africa
Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Industries Limited, said the group is targeting massive investments across Africa as part of its long-term expansion plans.
Dangote said the company’s so-called Vision 2030 is designed to support industrialisation across the continent, with Kenya expected to play an important role.
“We are going to spend almost $50 billion investments in Africa to industrialise our continent, and that’s why Kenya is taking part of that,” Dangote said.
He added that the group plans to significantly expand its energy investments in Kenya, including a major power project in Lamu.
“Our power plant is very big, but the whole of Lamu would actually be double because we are going to produce about 1,000 megawatts in Lamu, and we will have 500 megawatts to sell to the government of Kenya,” he said.
The Dangote Group is targeting group revenue of $110 billion by 2030, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) are projected to rise to $30 billion from an estimated $10 billion in 2026.
Dangote plans $16bn Kenya refinery
Dangote Petroleum Refinery is preparing to begin construction of a new 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Lamu, Kenya, on September 30.
The project is expected to cost between $15 billion and $16 billion and take about three years to complete.
The proposed refinery is strategically located to serve Kenya and other markets across East Africa, including South Sudan, Uganda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The facility is expected to reduce the region’s dependence on imported petroleum products, with East African countries currently sourcing a large share of their fuel supplies from outside the continent.
Source: Legit.ng
