Aliko Dangote expects his planned refinery in Kenya’s Lamu County to create about 60,000 construction jobs and trigger a wider industrial ecosystem spanning engineering, logistics, manufacturing and small businesses across East Africa.
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Dangote East Africa refinery, the billionaire said the project will go beyond fuel processing by creating opportunities for local companies and developing skills that can support future infrastructure projects across the region.
“This project should employ around 60,000 people during the construction. We want the local businesses to become suppliers. We want the entrepreneurs to emerge around this project. We want the economic footprint of this investment to extend far beyond the boundaries of the refinery itself,” Dangote said.
The company plans to establish a training school in Lamu capable of training 1,000 local people, according to Dangote. He said the programme will target people with engineering degrees, diplomas and other relevant qualifications.
The training initiative reflects Dangote’s broader effort to build local technical capacity around the project rather than relying extensively on foreign workers and expertise.
“What this will do is that going forward in the future, we don’t have to go and bring Chinese, Indians or so to come and build our infrastructure. We are going to build capacity here,” he said.
Dangote said the refinery could give rise to an industrial zone involving energy, petrochemicals, logistics, engineering, marine services, manufacturing, technology and small and medium-sized enterprises.
“Because when you build an industrial project of this scale, you do not simply build a refinery, you build possibilities around it, which none of us can quantify,” he said.
The company also wants communities in Lamu and across East Africa to participate directly in the economic opportunities created by the investment.
“We have not come merely to build in your community. We want to build with your community,” Dangote said.
The project is designed to have a regional economic footprint, with Dangote identifying opportunities for Kenyan, Tanzanian, Ugandan, Burundian and other East African businesses to participate in supply chains created by the refinery.
He said the measure of the investment would not be limited to its production capacity or financial returns, but would include the skills, businesses and income opportunities generated around it.
“For me, the true measure of this project will not be the height of these towers or the number of barrels it processes. It will be the difference it makes in the people’s lives,” Dangote said.
The project also has an ownership component aimed at giving East African countries a stake in the investment. Dangote said up to 30% of equity would be available to East African countries, allowing them to participate in profits generated through supply and exports.
Beyond the Lamu refinery, Dangote said his group has accumulated $50 billion in projects under its current investment plan, which runs through 2030.
The capital is intended for projects across critical sectors including infrastructure, minerals, ports, power and chemicals, he said.
“All you have to do is to tell us what you want, and our team will be ready to work with you and deliver it,” Dangote said.
The Lamu project is consequently being positioned as part of a broader expansion of African industrial capacity, with Dangote arguing that investment should create value chains rather than isolated industrial facilities.
“Industrialization must have a human face. It must create dignity. It must create skills. It must create opportunities. It must create hope,” he said.
