President William Ruto has revealed how a simple letter to billionaire Aliko Dangote set in motion the KSh2 trillion Dangote East Africa Refinery project now being built in Lamu.
Speaking during the groundbreaking ceremony in Mokowe on Wednesday, September 30, Ruto said the project started with an idea, followed by a letter, an invitation and eventually a conversation with Dangote.
“And, remarkably, this journey began with the simplest of actions. An idea; then a letter, then an invitation, and then a conversation,” Ruto said.
The President said he wrote to Dangote earlier this year and invited him to participate in the Africa We Build Summit held in Kenya in April.
“I wrote to my brother, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, and invited him to participate,” Ruto said.
He said the invitation was aimed at getting Dangote to consider an East African energy security and refining platform capable of addressing the region’s dependence on imported petroleum products.
The April summit brought together Ruto, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Dangote and other investors and financial institutions to discuss infrastructure and industrialisation.
At the time, Dangote publicly offered to build a refinery similar to his 650,000-barrel-per-day facility in Nigeria if regional governments supported the project.
The project initially took shape around Tanga in Tanzania before Lamu emerged as the preferred location.
Dangote later said the discussions had initially focused on Tanga because of a planned pipeline linking Uganda’s oil to the Tanzanian port. Further assessment, however, pointed to Lamu because of its deep waters, available land and other advantages.
By September, the idea had moved from discussions to a major investment plan.
Ruto broke ground for the refinery in Mokowe on Wednesday, describing it as a $16 billion, equivalent to about KSh2 trillion, petrochemical complex with a planned capacity of up to 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
The project will also include power generation of up to 1,000 megawatts and is expected to create up to 60,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Ruto said the refinery will serve Kenya and the wider East African region while creating opportunities for transporters, engineers, contractors, service providers, petrochemical companies and manufacturers.
“This is bigger than a refinery. It is an investment in energy security, industrialisation, and regional integration,” he said.
The President linked the project to Africa’s long-standing challenge of exporting raw materials and importing finished products.
He noted that Kenya spent KSh530 billion importing petroleum products last year, arguing that more refining capacity closer to the markets would help create new industries and retain more value within the region.
Ruto said the success of the project would ultimately depend on more than its size and investment value.
“This refinery’s scale will be measured in barrels and dollars. Its success must be measured in skills gained, enterprises built, livelihoods protected and public trust earned,” he said.
The President also assured Lamu residents that their interests would be considered as the project takes shape, promising that land, environmental and social concerns would be handled lawfully.
“Your interests will be taken care of. Your rights will be protected. Your voice will be heard, from today until the day this refinery runs, and beyond,” Ruto said.
For the President, the groundbreaking marks the transition of the refinery from an idea discussed earlier in the year to a project now entering implementation.
“A groundbreaking is a promise. A refinery is a promise kept,” Ruto said.