Work starts on Dangote’s refinery in Lamu

President William Ruto, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed broke ground on the Dangote refinery in Lamu on 30 September. The State Department for Transport puts its planned capacity at 700,000 barrels a day. More than 110 pieces of equipment are already on site, with about 400 more due within 60 days.

The Standard reports the project at US$16 billion, with construction expected to take 40 months and about 60,000 jobs during the build. As well as fuel, the refinery is planned to make materials used in plastics and rubber.

What it could mean for industry

David Ndii, the President’s economic adviser, projects that the refinery and the petrochemical businesses around it could lift manufacturing from 7.1% of Kenya’s economy to as much as 12%.

A land case on 14 October

The Environment and Land Court in Malindi declined to stop the groundbreaking, but ordered that things stay as they are on a disputed parcel of land until a hearing on 14 October. The petitioners, 133 residents of the Hindi and Manda Magogoni area, say they have long lived on and farmed the land, and are asking for compensation and resettlement.