Dangote sets 40-month refinery deadline

President William Ruto and Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote have outlined the next steps to be taken after a successful groundbreaking ceremony for the Sh2 trillion East African Refinery in Lamu.

Speaking during the event at the Lamu Port on Wednesday, the two said breaking ground was just the beginning, as more serious work is yet to come to make the project successful.

According to Mr Dangote, the project is scheduled to be completed in the next 40 months. He said a vessel with about 400 pieces of construction equipment is expected to dock at the Lamu Port in the next 60 days, in addition to 110 pieces of equipment delivered last week.

In a bid to boost human capital and ensure there's maximum employment of Kenyans during the construction and subsequent oil production, Mr Dangote said his company plans to set up a training school for engineering in Lamu.

“We want to make sure that we can get expertise locally without having to employ people from China or India,” he said.
President Ruto explained that the real work lies ahead in structuring financing, building infrastructure, training the workforce, delivering on time, sourcing crude, and securing the markets.

He challenged Mr Dangote to ensure the project is completed within the time he announced, telling him that Kenyans will be counting the days and will remind him if the project is incomplete by then.

“How we build this project matters as much as what we build. This is a Government-enabled, private sector-driven project,” he said.

“The government provides policy certainty, coordination, infrastructure and regulation, the conditions that make investment possible. Private enterprise mobilises capital, technical expertise and carries the commercial obligations of management,” Dr Ruto added.

He disclosed that the government intends to invest in the project through the National Infrastructure Fund, which was established to mobilise assets, savings and capital markets and crowd in long-term local and foreign investment.

Dr Ruto called on the public to be ready to also invest in the refinery when the initial public offering is made later, terming the investment an opportunity of a lifetime.

The Head of State revealed that an agreement between Dangote Group and the government was already signed on Tuesday ahead of the groundbreaking event. It was disclosed that Deputy President Kithure Kindiki played a key role in the negotiations.

According to the president, the agreement gives an assurance that land matters will be handled lawfully and fairly while environmental and social impacts will be assessed rigorously.

“The safeguards we agree on will be enforced during construction and during operation,” he said.

The issues had raised concerns among a section of Lamu residents who complained of being kept in the dark about the entire process.

He added that there are plans to construct a pipeline for pumping water from River Tana to Lamu. The water will be used in the refinery as well as by communities in the project's vicinity.

“We have discussed with the investor that a pipeline is to be constructed from Tana River to Lamu to serve the factory and its environs,” said the president.

President Ruto called on technical and vocational institutions and universities to prepare the welders, technicians, engineers, and managers with skills needed for the project to succeed. He said the youth in Lamu and across the country must get a fair chance to learn skills and compete fairly for jobs.

In addition, business people in the transport, food, accommodation, maintenance, construction materials, logistics and professional services will also be sensitised on what is needed for them to benefit from the opportunities brought by the investment.

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