Mohammed Dewji, Tanzania’s richest businessman, has offered to invest $100 million in Aliko Dangote’s planned oil refinery in Kenya, backing what could become one of Africa’s largest energy projects, despite stating that he would have preferred the plant to be built in Tanzania.
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Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg, Dewji said he was ready to support the estimated $17 billion refinery even though the project was moved from Tanzania to Kenya for what Dangote described as “commercial and technical” reasons.
“I would lean more toward Tanzania than Kenya,” Dewji said. “Definitely reach out to him and we can chat about it.”
The comments mark the first public indication that one of East Africa’s wealthiest industrialists is willing to invest in the project, which is expected to replicate the scale of Dangote’s refinery in Lagos and significantly expand fuel refining capacity in East Africa.
