Africa’s wealthiest man taps Indian state-run firm for $450 million Kenya refinery contract

Engineers India Ltd (EIL), a state-controlled firm, has agreed to a $450 million contract with Dangote to supervise development of a 700,000-barrels-per-day greenfield refinery and petrochemical complex in Lamu, a coastal town in Kenya. EIL previously took part in the buildout of Dangote’s Lagos refinery.

EIL served as consultant for Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals Fze in Lagos and is also managing the site’s ongoing expansion. The company operates under India’s ministry of petroleum and natural gas.

The new Kenyan development will strengthen Dangote’s refining portfolio, which already includes the Lagos facility. Bloomberg reported that the Lagos refinery’s capacity is expected to double to 1.4 million barrels per day by 2029.

The Kenya plant will extend Dangote’s footprint beyond the Atlantic coast to the Indian Ocean and further into the global energy market.

"Once completed, this project will be critical in strengthening fuel production within East Africa, reducing reliance on imports, and supporting regional energy security," Engineers India, or EIL, said in a filing on the Mumbai stock exchange.

Dangote said this month that construction on the refinery is set to begin by the end of September. The project carries an estimated cost of $16 billion and is designed to process 700,000 barrels of crude per day.

Dangote also intends to develop pipelines as part of the project. One route will connect Lamu to Ethiopia, while another will link Djibouti to Ethiopia.

The pipeline plans form part of a broader proposal for a 4,000-kilometre network aimed at connecting landlocked countries across the region.

The Kenya refinery is a key piece of Dangote’s broader push to scale his operations across Africa.

Dangote’s net worth stands at $35.5 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He has said he could invest up to $50 billion over the next four years to expand his business empire across the continent.

The expansion follows Dangote’s goal of reaching $100 billion in revenue for the Dangote Group by 2030.