Dangote vows bigger Kenyan refinery as Ruto tours Lagos plant

Kenyan President William Ruto says his government is fast-tracking administrative processes for the proposed Dangote refinery in Lamu, Kenya, as Aliko Dangote says the planned facility will be bigger than the existing Nigerian plant, Punch reports.

Ruto spoke on Friday during a tour of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, Lagos, ahead of the September 30 groundbreaking ceremony for the proposed 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Lamu.

“We have already secured the land that is necessary for this,” Ruto said. He added that his government was working on other requirements to eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks and ensure construction is not delayed.

Dangote outlined plans for a larger industrial complex in Kenya, including a power plant with 1,000-megawatt generation capacity, twice the one at his Lagos refinery, and a million-tonne polypropylene plant. The Lamu refinery’s 700,000-barrel capacity compares with the 650,000-barrel design capacity of the Lagos plant.

“I think in Lamu we are not only going to have the largest, but we are also going to have the best. So we will combine the largest and best together in Lamu,” Ruto said.

He described the project as regional, saying he had invited eight colleagues from the region and five had confirmed attendance.

“The only thing I want to tell you is that the standards are higher in Kenya. So you’d better be prepared,” he told Dangote.