Afreximbank Congratulates the Government and People of the Republic of Kenya and Dangote Group on Landmark Lamu Refinery Project

African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) (www.Afreximbank.com) congratulates the Government and people of the Republic of Kenya, led by H.E. President Dr William Samoei Ruto, on the groundbreaking of the Dangote oil refinery in Lamu. The landmark investment has the potential to significantly expand Africa’s refining capacity, strengthen regional energy security and accelerate the continent’s transition from exporting raw materials to trading value-added products.

The approximately US$16 billion refinery is planned to have capacity to process 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day and is expected to create approximately 60,000 jobs. Its intended regional ownership and market reach underscore its potential as an East African industrial asset. The refinery is expected to process crude sourced from African producers, including Uganda, while supplying refined petroleum products to Kenya and the wider regional market.

The economic significance of establishing large-scale refining capacity is substantial. A project of this scale presents an opportunity to retain more value within Kenyan and African economies, deepen local industrial supply chains, generate employment and associated services, reduce exposure to imported refined products and create a new platform for regional exports.

The project also comes at a consequential moment for Africa’s energy security. Recent disruptions affecting the Strait of Hormuz and continuing instability around the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb have again demonstrated the vulnerability created when African economies depend heavily on distant supply chains for strategic commodities. Against this backdrop, expanding African refining capacity is critical to advancing industrialisation, Intra-African trade and economic resilience.

Dr George Elombi, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, said, “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. 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 continued, “Recent disruptions to global energy and shipping routes have reminded us of the cost of dependence. Africa has the capital, the enterprises and the markets to reduce that exposure. 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 Lamu refinery groundbreaking takes place amid a wider expansion of Kenya’s industrial and trade infrastructure, an agenda in which Afreximbank has become an important long-term partner to the Government of Kenya. In 2023, Afreximbank launched a US$3 billion Country Programme for Kenya to support priority public and private-sector projects. The programme encompasses industrial development and export manufacturing, climate adaptation and irrigation, trade infrastructure, support for small and medium-sized enterprises and initiatives designed to connect Kenyan businesses more effectively to regional and continental markets. It includes a US$800 million Kenya Climate Change Adaptation Facility supporting irrigation development and broader agricultural productivity.

In addition, working with the Government of Kenya and ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (Arise IIP), Afreximbank is supporting the development of the Dongo Kundu Integrated Industrial Park in Mombasa and the Naivasha Special Economic Zone II. Approximately US$1 billion has been earmarked for the development of the two integrated industrial parks, which are expected to strengthen export manufacturing, attract domestic and international investment and enhance Kenya’s position as an industrial and logistics gateway into East and Central Africa. Government projections have associated the two developments with approximately 140,000 jobs once 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 US$800 million financing framework, comprising US$500 million from Afreximbank and US$300 million from KCB, to support enterprises establishing operations in the zone. Afreximbank had already disbursed US$40 million towards development of the SEZ. The financing targets enterprises in manufacturing, agro-processing, logistics and other value-addition sectors.

Afreximbank also congratulates Mr Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, and the Dangote Group, for continuing to make large-scale commitments to Africa’s industrial development.

Afreximbank and Dangote Group have built a longstanding partnership focused on industrialisation, value addition and expanding Africa’s productive capacity. Since 2015, Afreximbank has invested approximately US$15 billion in the Dangote Group. That support has included major financing for the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals Complex in Nigeria. In 2025, Afreximbank signed a US$1.35 billion financing facility as part of an approximately US$4 billion syndicated financing for Dangote Industries Limited. In 2026, the Bank subsequently underwrote US$2.5 billion of a US$4 billion senior syndicated term loan for the refinery, representing the largest participation in the syndicate. Since refining operations began, Afreximbank has also provided a US$1 billion working-capital facility and served as financial adviser on the Naira-for-Crude initiative.

These interventions complement Afreximbank’s wider effort to build an African market for African-refined petroleum. In 2025, the Bank established a US$3 billion Revolving Intra-African Oil Import Financing Programme, designed to facilitate approximately US$10 billion to US$14 billion in intra-African petroleum imports and enable African buyers to source more refined products from refineries operating on the continent.

Dr. Elombi said, “African enterprises such as Dangote Industries demonstrate what is possible when African ambition is matched by investment at scale. They turn our natural resources into productive capacity – refineries, factories, supply chains, jobs and products that can be traded across African markets. Afreximbank has been proud to support the Dangote Group’s industrial expansion, including its major refining investment in Nigeria. Its decision to extend that industrial footprint into East Africa is important because Africa’s transformation will increasingly depend on African enterprises investing across our borders, African financial institutions supporting them and governments creating the conditions in which those investments can succeed.”

Afreximbank believes that the development of globally competitive African enterprises and regional value chains will be essential to achieving the promise of the African Continental Free Trade Area. Investments such as the Lamu refinery, alongside Kenya’s emerging industrial parks and special economic zones, can help shift the continent from dependence on the export of unprocessed commodities and the import of manufactured products towards an African economy that increasingly produces, processes and trades for itself.

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