Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote eyes Kenya refinery investment
By Reuters, May 10, 2026Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote is looking at Kenya as the site of a 650,000-barrel-a-day oil refinery that he intends to build in East Africa, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing an interview with him.
“I’m leaning more towards Mombasa because Mombasa has a much larger, deeper port,” Dangote said in the interview.
The report comes after Kenyan President William Ruto said last month that East African countries were discussing plans for a joint oil refinery at the Tanzanian port of Tanga that is modelled on Nigeria’s Dangote operation.
Kenya is a bigger economy
However, Dangote, in the interview, compared Kenya’s Mombasa to Tanzania’s Tanga port, and said, “Kenyans consume more. It’s a bigger economy.”
“The ball is in the hands of President Ruto,” he said. “Whatever President Ruto says is what I’ll do,” he added.
Dangote estimated it would cost Ksh1.93 trillion to Ksh2.19 trillion ($15 billion to $17 billion) to build the refinery, the FT report said.
Refinery plan
East Africa currently imports all of its refined petroleum products, mainly from the Middle East, leaving the region vulnerable to the supply disruptions and price spikes that have been seen during the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, at an infrastructure summit in Nairobi in April 2026, said he could replicate his 650,000-barrel-a-day Nigerian refinery in East Africa, provided governments in the region supported the initiative.