Dangote Group, the empire of Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, has offered a 30 per cent holding in its proposed 700,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery to nations in East Africa, the region where the mega crude-processing plant is to be located, Bloomberg reported Friday.
Kenya, where the new refinery will be sited at the southeastern coastal town of Lamu, will take a 10 per cent stake estimated at around half a trillion dollars, David Ndii, a top economic adviser of President Ruto, told Bloomberg.
“The total for the region is about $1.5 billion. I don’t actually see a challenge in doing that, and if some of them are not off-taking we will backstop,” Mr Ndii was quoted as saying at a capital market conference in Nairobi on Thursday.
Ethiopia and Rwanda are said to have indicated willingness to participate.
Mr Dangote is turning to business-friendly Kenya and other promising markets in East Africa to expand his multi-billion dollar empire after facing an avalanche of resistance from his home country Nigeria in bringing a refinery of similar capacity to completion.
