Dangote Offers Kenya, Ethiopia Rwanda Combined 30% Equity In Planned $17bn Refinery

President and chief executive l, Dangote Industries Group, Aliko Dangote has offered East African countries a combined 30 per cent equity stake in his planned $17 billion oil refinery in Kenya, David Ndii, President William Ruto’s economic adviser, said on Thursday.

Ndii told a capital markets forum in Nairobi that Kenya had been offered a 10 per cent stake and that Ethiopia and Rwanda had also shown interest.

He said Kenya’s 10 per cent share would be worth about $500 million and that the total regional contribution could reach roughly $1.5 billion.

“The total for the region is about $1.5 billion,” Ndii said, adding that Dangote was willing to support the project if any participating country could not commit as a crude off-taker. “I don’t actually see a challenge in doing that, and if some of them are not off-taking we will backstop,” he said.

Ndii said the equity offer would give East African countries a direct stake in a major energy infrastructure project and could help secure refined fuel supplies for participating markets.

Dangote, the Nigerian industrialist behind the proposal, moved the planned refinery from Tanga in Tanzania to Lamu on Kenya’s coast after weighing commercial and technical factors, Ndii said.

The project would mirror Dangote’s large-scale refinery in Lagos and mark a major expansion of his refining business into East Africa.

A Dangote Industries Limited spokesperson told journalists in early July that the Kenyan coast project — which includes refinery and related infrastructure — could cost about $17 billion and take around five years to complete.

The refinery has already drawn interest from regional private investors, Ndii said.

He noted that Tanzania’s Mohammed Dewji had earlier expressed willingness to invest $100 million in the project.

Ndii also described broader plans linked to Dangote’s refining expansion. He said Dangote intends to widen his refining footprint beyond Nigeria and use capital markets to raise funds for growth. In Nigeria, Dangote Petroleum Refinery aims to expand capacity from 700,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million bpd and is pursuing a listing to unlock more capital.

Recent financing moves, Ndii said, underline that strategy. He referenced reports that Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals FZE had secured a $400 million underwriting commitment ahead of a proposed IPO and that the group had put together a $1 billion underwriting programme, including a completed $600 million private placement and a further $400 million underwriting commitment, subject to regulatory and market conditions.

Observers say the proposed regional equity offer would spread ownership, potentially involve a wider set of East African investors, and tie local markets more closely to supply of refined petroleum products if the project proceeds.