Kenyan President William Ruto has arrived in Lagos to tour the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, days before he is expected to lead the groundbreaking ceremony for the proposed East Africa Refinery in Lamu.
Ruto arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport on Friday and was received by businessman Aliko Dangote and senior Nigerian officials.
The Kenyan president was accompanied by First Lady Rachel Ruto and other senior government officials.
His visit to the 700,000-barrel-per-day Dangote refinery comes five days before the planned September 30 groundbreaking of the proposed East Africa Refinery in Lamu.
The Kenyan facility is expected to have a projected processing capacity of 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day and form a key part of the country’s efforts to expand refining capacity, strengthen energy security and increase local value addition.
Ruto’s Lagos visit follows a meeting with Dangote and Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) President and Chief Executive Officer Samaila Zubairu on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York earlier this week.
The discussions focused on financing and preparations for the Lamu refinery project.
“We are ready to break ground on the East Africa refinery in Lamu, a transformative project that will enhance the region’s energy security, deepen local value addition, create jobs and advance our industrialisation agenda,” Ruto said after the meeting.
The proposed refinery is expected to process crude from Kenya’s oilfields in Lokichar, Turkana County, and supply refined petroleum products to markets across East and Central Africa.
Dangote Group is involved in the project, with support from the AFC. Reports have estimated the investment at between $15 billion and $17 billion.
During his visit to Lagos, Ruto was taken on a guided tour of the Dangote refinery and adjoining petrochemical complex by Dangote and senior company officials.
The delegation was briefed on the facility’s operations, processing capacity, infrastructure and various stages of the refining process.
The Dangote refinery, one of Africa’s largest refining facilities, has a capacity of about 700,000 barrels per day.
The project’s experience is expected to provide useful insights for Kenya as it prepares to develop its own large-scale refinery infrastructure.
After the Lagos visit, Ruto is expected to return to Kenya for a weeklong tour of the Coast region covering Taita-Taveta, Kwale, Kilifi, Mombasa, Tana River and Lamu counties.
The tour will focus on development projects, land reforms and investments, including the planned distribution of nearly 200,000 title deeds to residents across the six counties.
Ruto is also expected to commission completed projects, inspect ongoing works and launch new developments during the tour.
