Lamu facility expected to take three years as group expands energy footprint across Africa….
Dangote Group is set to commence construction of its proposed $17bn oil refinery in Kenya before the end of September, as the conglomerate moves to expand its refining operations beyond West Africa.
President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, disclosed this on Monday at the opening of the Initial Public Offering of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals in Lagos.
The proposed refinery will be located in Lamu, on Kenya’s coast, and is expected to take about three years to complete.
The project would extend Dangote Group’s energy operations into East Africa and add to its growing presence in the continent’s petroleum industry.
“There’s a lot of value in Africa. Africa is like a scratch card unless you scratch it, you will not see the use of it. The opportunities are immense,” Dangote said.
The billionaire also disclosed plans for further expansion of the group’s energy infrastructure, including a 2,650-kilometre pipeline linking Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.
“We are also taking up another line, which will now go to Zimbabwe,” Dangote said, adding that work on the project is expected to begin next month.
The proposed Kenyan refinery is expected to replicate the scale and design of the Dangote Refinery in Lagos, which is currently Africa’s largest single-train refinery.
The project had previously been estimated to take about five years to complete, but Dangote’s latest disclosure puts the expected construction period at three years.
The planned facility also forms part of the group’s wider strategy to establish an integrated energy business with operations extending across different parts of Africa.
In August, Dangote offered East African countries the opportunity to collectively acquire a 30 per cent stake in the proposed Kenyan refinery.
The proposal could provide regional investors with an equity interest worth about $1.5bn in the project, with Kenya expected to take a 10 per cent stake. Ethiopia and Rwanda have also expressed interest in participating.
Dangote made the disclosure as his Nigerian refinery commenced its N2.15tn IPO on Monday.
The public offer is expected to raise about $1.6bn and value the refinery business at almost $50bn, while giving retail and institutional investors an opportunity to acquire shares in one of Nigeria’s largest industrial projects.
The IPO has generated significant interest among Nigerian stockbrokers, banks and fintech companies, with the transaction targeting as many as 10 million investors.
The scale of participation has also prompted a major expansion in digital subscription channels, with applications being made available through commercial banks, mobile money operators, the Nigerian Exchange’s NGX Invest platform and various fintech and investment firms.
The Kenyan refinery project, meanwhile, represents another major step in Dangote Group’s ambition to broaden its energy footprint across the continent, extending its refining and infrastructure interests from West Africa towards East and Southern Africa.
