Aliko Dangote's conglomerate proceeded with a groundbreaking ceremony for a planned $16 billion, 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery near Lamu's deep-water port on Kenya's coast, even as a legal dispute over the land remains unresolved, according to a report by Forbes Africa. Kenya's Malindi Environment and Land Court had ordered the status quo maintained on the disputed site pending a hearing, after 133 residents of Chandavai in Lamu County filed a case arguing the land is ancestral territory their families have farmed for generations.
Dangote dismissed criticism from conservationists and local residents opposed to the project, saying land disputes of this kind are routine for large projects across Africa and describing this one as relatively minor. The company has offered regional governments a 30 percent combined equity stake in the refinery, with Rwanda requesting a 10 percent share on its own; payments for those equity stakes can reportedly be spread over four years.
Once operational, the refinery is expected to process crude sourced both regionally, including from Kenya itself, and from overseas suppliers in the Middle East and the United States, while also supporting planned regional pipeline infrastructure tied to future petrochemical development. Whether the project proceeds on its current timeline may still depend heavily on how the land dispute resolves at the court's October hearing.