• Lamu Refinery to Create 60,000 Jobs, Boost Africa’s Refining Capacity — Afreximbank
By| Goodluck E.Adubazi, Abuja
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has commended the Government of Kenya and the Dangote Group following the groundbreaking of a $16 billion oil refinery project in Lamu, describing the investment as a major milestone in Africa’s industrialisation and regional energy security.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Dangote East Africa Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals Special Economic Zone was held on September 30 in Mokowe, Lamu County, with Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto and President and Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, in attendance.
The refinery is planned to process up to 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day and is expected to create about 60,000 jobs.
Afreximbank said the project would serve markets beyond Kenya and could emerge as a major industrial and energy asset for East Africa.
According to the bank, the refinery is expected to process crude supplied by African producers, including Uganda, while providing refined petroleum products to Kenya and other regional markets.
Afreximbank President and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr George Elombi, said the significance of the project went beyond the construction of a refinery.
“The significance of this investment extends well beyond the construction of a refinery. It demonstrates Africa’s capacity to conceive, finance and build major industrial assets that respond directly to the needs of our economies,” Elombi said.
He said expanding refining capacity across Africa would enable countries to retain greater value from their natural resources, create jobs and strengthen intra-African trade.
“By refining more of what we produce on the continent, we retain greater value from our natural resources, create jobs and strengthen the trade links between African economies,” he added.
Afreximbank said the Lamu refinery comes at a critical time for Africa’s energy security, particularly amid disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz and instability along the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb.
Elombi said recent disruptions to global energy and shipping routes had highlighted the economic risks associated with excessive dependence on distant supply chains.
“Africa has the capital, the enterprises and the markets to reduce that exposure,” he said.
“Investments such as this give us the productive capacity to shorten supply chains, conserve foreign exchange, strengthen regional energy security and build greater resilience into our economies.”
The bank said large-scale refining capacity could enable Kenya and other African economies to retain more economic value domestically, deepen industrial supply chains, create employment and reduce dependence on imported refined petroleum products.
The Lamu refinery project comes amid an expansion of Kenya’s industrial and trade infrastructure, with Afreximbank positioning itself as a long-term financial partner to the country.
In 2023, the bank launched a $3 billion Country Programme for Kenya to support priority public- and private-sector projects covering industrial development, export manufacturing, climate adaptation, irrigation, trade infrastructure and small and medium-sized enterprises.
The programme includes an $800 million Kenya Climate Change Adaptation Facility, supporting irrigation development and agricultural productivity.
Afreximbank is also working with the Kenyan government and ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (ARISE IIP) on the development of the Dongo Kundu Integrated Industrial Park in Mombasa and the Naivasha Special Economic Zone II.
About $1 billion has been earmarked for the two industrial parks, which are expected to attract investment, expand export manufacturing and strengthen Kenya’s position as an industrial and logistics gateway to East and Central Africa.
Government projections have linked the developments to about 140,000 jobs when fully developed.
The bank has also expanded its support for the Vipingo Special Economic Zone in Kilifi County. In 2025, Afreximbank and KCB Group announced an $800 million financing framework, comprising $500 million from Afreximbank and $300 million from KCB, to support businesses establishing operations in the zone.
Afreximbank also commended the Dangote Group for its continued investment in Africa’s industrial development.
The bank said it has maintained a longstanding partnership with Dangote focused on industrialisation, value addition and expanding productive capacity across the continent.
Since 2015, Afreximbank said it has invested approximately $15 billion in the Dangote Group, including major financing for the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals Complex in Nigeria.
In 2025, the bank signed a $1.35 billion financing facility as part of an approximately $4 billion syndicated financing package for Dangote Industries Limited.
In 2026, Afreximbank subsequently underwrote $2.5 billion of a $4 billion senior syndicated term loan for the refinery, representing the largest participation in the syndicate.
Since refining operations began, the bank has also provided a $1 billion working-capital facility and served as financial adviser on the Naira-for-Crude initiative.
Elombi said Dangote’s expansion into East Africa demonstrated the growing role of African companies in driving continental industrialisation.
“African enterprises such as Dangote Industries demonstrate what is possible when African ambition is matched by investment at scale,” he said.
“They turn our natural resources into productive capacity — refineries, factories, supply chains, jobs and products that can be traded across African markets.”
Push for African-Refined Petroleum
The Lamu project also aligns with Afreximbank’s broader strategy to develop an integrated African market for petroleum products refined on the continent.
In 2025, the bank established a $3 billion Revolving Intra-African Oil Import Financing Programme, designed to facilitate an estimated $10 billion to $14 billion in intra-African petroleum imports and enable African buyers to source more refined products from refineries operating within Africa.
Afreximbank said globally competitive African enterprises and regional value chains would be critical to achieving the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The bank said investments such as the Lamu refinery, alongside Kenya’s expanding industrial parks and special economic zones, could help African economies reduce dependence on exporting unprocessed commodities while importing manufactured goods.
The broader objective, Afreximbank said, is to build an African economy that increasingly produces, processes and trades for itself.
