Rwanda is considering investing in a proposed oil refinery backed by Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote and planned for East Africa. Speaking at a press conference on Monday, August 24, President Paul Kagame said the country would be interested in acquiring a stake in the planned refinery, although talks are still at an early stage. ALSO READ: Kagame says Rwanda considering investment in Dangote-backed oil refinery Media reports indicate that Rwanda and Uganda have been offered a combined 30 per cent stake in the $16 billion refinery, with the two countries’ potential investment estimated at about $1.5 billion. As discussions continue, here are some key things to know about the proposed refinery. Where will the refinery be built? Lamu, a Kenyan island located in the Indian Ocean on the far north coast of the country, has been selected as the proposed location for the refinery. Lamu has a deep-water port and is part of the LAPSSET Corridor, a regional infrastructure project designed to connect Kenya’s coast with South Sudan and Ethiopia. The refinery project was previously discussed in connection with Tanzania, but Dangote later identified Kenya as the preferred location. How big is the refinery? The proposed facility is expected to have a refining capacity of about 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Recent estimates put the cost of the proposed Lamu refinery at about $16 billion, down from an earlier estimate of $17 billion. Dangote has said ground-breaking is expected by October 2026. Which countries could participate? Dangote has reportedly offered East African governments a combined 30 percent stake in the proposed refinery, according to recent reports. Though President Kagame has confirmed that Rwanda is considering an investment, the size of the country’s potential stake, the amount it could invest and the terms of any investment have not been publicly disclosed. Kenya and Ethiopia have also been linked to discussions over participation in the project. Why is the project being proposed? East African countries rely heavily on imported refined petroleum products. Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited (KPRL) in Mombasa stopped crude refining in 2013 and is currently used mainly for storage. Uganda is separately developing a 60,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Hoima, which is expected to process crude from the country’s Lake Albert oilfields. Tanzania’s former Tiper refinery in Dar es Salaam ceased operations in 1999. The proposed Dangote refinery would therefore add a large-scale crude refining facility to a region where existing refining capacity is limited. How does Dangote’s existing refinery compare? Dangote already operates a major refinery near Lagos, Nigeria. The Nigerian facility cost about $20 billion and has a capacity of around 650,000 barrels per day, according to Reuters. It began operations in 2024 and reached full production capacity in 2026. The proposed Lamu refinery would have a planned capacity of about 700,000 barrels per day, making it slightly larger by planned processing capacity.
