Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote and Kenya’s President William Ruto are set to break ground on a $16bn (£12bn) oil refinery in Lamu, on Kenya’s northern coast.
Upon completion, the refinery is expected to process 700,000 barrels of crude oil a day, making it East Africa’s largest industrial project by capacity.
Ahead of the launch, some local residents took to the streets to demand more compensation for land used for the refinery.
Speaking to the BBC, Dangote dismissed the protests as games played by local marketers and international players, insisting the refinery would go ahead and would be ready by 2030 as planned.
The Lamu refinery is Kenya’s largest infrastructure project since independence, surpassing the $5.1bn (£3.9bn) Standard Gauge Railway. East Africa does not currently have any oil refineries.
In his interview with the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme, Dangote disputed the compensation claims and said the company took only the portion of land it needed from what the government made available.
“To come and say some people are demonstrating, demonstrating about what? Have you ever seen people demonstrating against themselves in terms of development?” he asked, indicating he was not fazed by the protests.
At the height of construction, Dangote, who is Africa’s richest man, said the refinery would create 60,000 jobs, with the benefits extending beyond those employed directly by the project.
“Are we going to bring robots? Of course, the people will benefit,” he said.
Critics have questioned the decision to build the refinery in Kenya, which is not an oil-producing country. Others have suggested Tanzania or Uganda, both of which are moving towards oil exports through the East African Crude Oil Pipeline.
But Kenya’s Energy and Petroleum Minister Opiyo Wandayi told the BBC that the refinery’s location did not mean it would rely on oil from the region.
“Refineries get crude oil from the market. And the market is open,” he said.
Dangote made a similar point, citing Singapore as an example.
“Singapore doesn’t produce a single drop of oil, yet they have a lot of refineries,” Dangote said.
