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Kenyan President William Ruto has described the Dangote oil refinery as “a masterpiece of science, engineering and art”, after a tour of the Lagos facility which he said deepened his confidence in the proposed $17 billion East African oil refinery and petrochemical complex planned for Lamu, Kenya.
Ruto visited the 700,000 barrel-per-day refinery after attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
“Coming here and seeing it for myself, I can confirm that I have seen a masterpiece of science, engineering and art. To my brother Aliko, congratulations. I have always known that Nigerians are very brave and enterprising people, but I did not foresee it being of this magnitude,” he said.
The Kenyan leader said preparations for the revolutionary Lamu project had been concluded, describing it as a regional rather than purely national undertaking.
“This is not a Kenyan refinery; it will be a regional refinery. We are positioning our continent as an emerging growth hub,” Ruto said, adding that Kenya had secured the necessary land and was committed to eliminating administrative bottlenecks.
“The Government of Kenya supports this project 100%,” he added.
He also praised Dangote’s practical knowledge of the refinery’s operations, saying the level of detail was behind the project’s success.
Speaking during the visit, Dangote Group Chief Strategy Officer Aliyu Suleiman said the conglomerate earned about $17 billion in the first half of 2026 and is on track to hit $36 billion in full-year revenue, double the $18 billion recorded in 2025.
It linked the growth to sustained investment in the cement, sugar, fertiliser, refining and upstream oil and gas sectors, as part of the Group’s Vision 2030 strategy to build a $100 billion African industrial enterprise.
Suleiman said the Group spent around $50 billion on capital projects between 2020 and 2025 and expects to double that spending over the next five years.
The planned Lamu refinery, also targeted at 700,000 barrels a day, is expected to be a “major contributor” to that $100 billion ambition, Suleiman said. The Dangote Group has already signed a contract worth over $450 million with Engineers India Limited for project management and engineering services on the Lamu plant, building on EIL’s role in the development of the Lagos refinery.
Separately, Dangote Group is pressing ahead with plans to almost double its Lagos refinery capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day with a new 750,000 barrel per day crude distillation unit, a move set to strengthen Nigeria’s position as a major exporter of refined products.
