Oil tycoon Aliko Dangote has said Africa will largely meet its own refined fuel needs by 2030, as he prepares to launch a $16 billion refinery on the Kenyan coast.
He made the remark on Tuesday while speaking to reporters in Nairobi.
Dangote will break ground on the East African refinery on Wednesday. The facility, planned at 700,000 barrels per day, is expected to take about 30 months to build.
Africa’s richest man said the project is part of efforts to stop the continent exporting raw materials and start selling finished products.
“By 2030, the majority of African countries will be self-sufficient. It does not matter where it is refined, but it should be in the African continent, on the soil of Africa,” he said, responding to a question from AFP on when Africa would stop importing fuel.
Legal and environmental opposition
The refinery is being built at Lamu on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast. It already faces a land rights court case and opposition from Greenpeace and others over its environmental impact.
Dangote dismissed the concerns.
“There’s actually no problem with these sort of cases,” he said. “There are people who don’t want the development of Africa.”
Where the crude will come from
Questions have been raised over where the refinery will source crude, since East African countries are only beginning to exploit significant reserves.
Dangote said the refinery will buy crude from multiple sources, including the Middle East and the United States, and will be ready as Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique increase production.
“Are we going to wait until (Africa has) one quarter of the world’s population before we start thinking of what to do? We have to start addressing that issue today,” he said, pointing to US President Donald Trump’s threats to stop exporting diesel.
“Just the start”
Dangote said the Kenyan refinery would be a small part of meeting the demand Africa will generate as its economy grows.
“When you talk about 700,000 barrels per day, it’s actually small. For the region, it’s a big refinery, it’s a big investment, but it is a start-up,” he said.
“This refinery is not all we are going to do there. It’s just the start… You will see the number of industries that will come around the refinery,” he added.
Stop exporting raw materials
Dangote named the biggest challenge facing Africa as the need to stop exporting raw materials and start making finished products that keep wealth on the continent.
“The biggest problem is that we export raw materials at maybe 5 to 10 percent of its value, and then we end up buying at 100 percent of its value,” he said.
“We are exporting jobs, because when we keep exporting raw materials, you are creating jobs out there. And when you buy finished products from them… you are importing poverty, because you are not actually creating any jobs here.”
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