You're watching The World with me, Charles Aniagolu. Now, Africa's richest man, the Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, has broken ground today on the construction of a strategic $16 billion oil refinery on the coast of Kenya. Kenya's President William Ruto says the refinery in Lamu will help shield the country from the volatility of global energy prices, but its construction is controversial, even though it's believed to be a game-changer for the East African region, which is largely dependent on fuel imports. On Tuesday, protesters in Lamu clashed with police over the construction of the refinery, with residents disputing land ownership and expressing environmental concerns. The facility is expected to produce about 700,000 barrels of oil per day when it becomes fully operational in 2030, similar to the other Dangote refinery in Lagos.
I have not come merely to build in your community. We want to build with your community. We want the indigenous people to participate in the opportunity created by this investment, and there will be many. Even for us, before we finish the refinery, we'll think of something else. We'll be very aggressive. We want young Kenyans and East Africans to acquire skills here. This project should employ around 60,000 people during the construction. We want the local businesses to become suppliers. We want the entrepreneurs to emerge around this project. We want the economic footprint of this investment to extend far beyond the boundaries of the refinery itself. We must stop asking whether Africa can build big. We must start asking how quickly Africa can build what it needs. We must stop believing that transformation will be delivered to us. We must build it by ourselves. Thousands of men and women will come to work, and where we stand today, an industrial city will begin to emerge. That is how transformation happens: first as an idea, then as a decision, then as work, and finally as a reality. Excellencies that are here, our African leaders, our group has actually earmarked $50 billion to roll out projects under our current plan, which ends in 2030. Your Excellencies, we have more capacity to take on investment across critical sectors: infrastructure, minerals, ports, power, petrochemicals. All you have to do is to tell us what you want, and our team will be ready to work with you and deliver it.
Last week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, I told the world that Africa does not come to plead. I said Africa's resources must become the beginning of African industry, not the end of Africa's contribution to global prosperity. And I said that within a week we expect to break ground on a refinery here in Lamu. Today, Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, we keep that promise. Today, we are witnessing the beginning of a generational undertaking: a US dollar 16 billion, 2.2 trillion Kenya shillings petrochemical complex designed to process up to 700,000 barrels of crude oil every day and serve not merely Kenya but the wider East African region. And as was said by Aliko Dangote, the global market needs. The project also envisages up to 1,000 megawatts of power that will be generated, part of which will ultimately serve beyond the refinery. That 1,000 megawatts is not just for the refinery. It is for this region. This, ladies and gentlemen, is bigger than a refinery. It is an investment in energy security, industrialization, and regional integration. Above all, it is a declaration that Africa has entered a new age in which we will increasingly finance, build, process, and add value here at home.
Well, that's the Kenyan president there, Mr. Ruto. And before him, Aliko Dangote. Well, for more on this, I'm joined now on the line from New York by Arise diplomatic and foreign correspondent Alkasim Abdul Kadir. Good to see you, Alkasim. Just tell us about the significance of this project. I mean, how big a deal is this Dangote refinery for the government and people of Kenya?
This is a huge deal. Not only for Kenya, not only for the region, but also for the entirety of the African continent. Remember that Aliko Dangote and the Dangote Group were here in New York a couple of days ago. From here, they had a brief stop in Lekki, and then from Lekki, they went on to Lamu in Kenya. We're talking about a $16 billion project, a 700,000 barrels per day refinery, which is going to feed into energy security. It's going to feed into employment. And it's also going to be an industrial-based project. We're talking about 60,000 people that it's going to employ in the lifetime of the construction of the project. So, this is really huge. And above all, it's going to turn Lamu in Kenya into a regional energy hub.
But I mean, some critics have questioned the decision to build the refinery in Kenya, which is not an oil-producing country. I mean, what's been the Kenyan government's response to that?
The advantage is the fact that Lamu is a deep water port. It has access to regional market. It's in the Horn of Africa, and it's suitable for importing crude and supplying refined products across East Africa. Let's not forget that countries like Singapore and South Korea themselves don't have crude oil, but in spite of that, they refine huge volumes of refined PPMs and other ancillary products. So, this could actually also work in Kenya. This is the government's argument.
Right. And this is a project, I think you mentioned, that goes beyond Kenya, doesn't it? I understand today's groundbreaking ceremony was also attended by the leaders of Uganda, Ethiopia, Togo, and Benin. And Dangote has offered regional governments a combined 30% stake in the refinery.
Absolutely right. The catch for these governments that you have listed, which includes Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and even South Sudan and DRC, is the fact that the Dangote Group have offered them a 30% stake. And this is huge. I remember the just concluded IPO in Nigeria, where Aliko Dangote described it as the IPO of the people. Now, what we have in East Africa, and Kenya particularly, is that it's the stake of regional governments. So, it's a regional business this time around, which is the catch for all of these governments that attended the groundbreaking ceremony.
