Inside Dangote's $46 billion plan to connect West and East Africa with two mega-refineries

Aliko Dangote's ambition to transform Africa's energy landscape is taking on a distinctly continental shape.

• Aliko Dangote is developing a continent-wide refining network, expanding from Nigeria to Kenya.
• The company aims to operate a total refining capacity of 2.1 million barrels per day—1.4 million in Nigeria and 700,000 in Kenya.
• Kenya was chosen for its strategic location, modern pipeline infrastructure, and access to East Africa's largest port.
• The strategy is designed to strengthen intra-African fuel trade and reduce reliance on imports.

What began as Dangote's landmark refinery project in Nigeria is evolving into a continent-wide refining network, with the company confirming plans for a 700,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Kenya as part of a $46 billion investment programme spanning its refining, cement and fertiliser businesses between 2026 and 2028.

Once completed, Dangote Industries expects to operate a combined refining capacity of 2.1 million bpd which includes the 1.4 million bpd in Nigeria and 700,000 bpd in Kenya, creating one of Africa's largest privately owned refining networks.

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Stretching from the Atlantic coast in West Africa to the Indian Ocean in East Africa, the twin hubs are expected to strengthen intra-African fuel trade while reducing the continent's reliance on imported refined petroleum products.

The expanded plans were disclosed by Dangote Industries' Group Vice President for Oil and Gas, Devakumar Edwin, during a visit by a delegation from the Republic of the Congo's national oil company, Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo (SNPC), to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos.

During the visit, the company outlined its long-term African expansion strategy while discussing regional energy cooperation.

The latest announcement also marks a significant increase from Dangote's earlier proposal for a 650,000-bpd refinery in Kenya, signalling growing confidence in East Africa's long-term fuel demand and the country's strategic importance to the group's continental ambitions.

Why Kenya emerged as Dangote's preferred choice

Business Insider Africa previously reported that Kenya had emerged as Dangote's preferred destination after the company evaluated several locations across East Africa.

The choice reflects more than geography.

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The Port of Mombasa, East Africa's busiest seaport, already serves as a key gateway for petroleum products destined for Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and parts of Tanzania, making it an ideal hub for regional fuel distribution.

Kenya also has an extensive pipeline network operated by the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), allowing refined products to move efficiently across the country and into neighbouring landlocked states.

Its position within the East African Community (EAC)—a market of more than 300 million people—further strengthens its appeal, while the project would revive Kenya's ambitions of becoming a regional refining hub after the closure of its only refinery over a decade ago.

Building Africa's first two-coast refining network

The significance of the Kenyan refinery extends well beyond East Africa.

Together with Dangote Industries' planned 1.4 million barrels per day of refining capacity in Nigeria, the proposed 700,000-bpd refinery in Kenya would create a 2.1 million-bpd refining network stretching from West to East Africa.

The twin hubs would position the conglomerate to supply refined petroleum products across much of sub-Saharan Africa while reducing the continent's dependence on fuel imports from the Middle East, Europe and Asia

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Today, much of East Africa relies on refined petroleum imports from the Middle East, India and Europe. A refinery in Kenya would allow Dangote to supply fuel much closer to end markets, reducing shipping distances, improving supply security and supporting the continent's push to process more of its own crude.

The strategy also complements the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) by strengthening intra-African industrial capacity and reducing dependence on overseas refiners.

Dangote has repeatedly framed the company's expansion as a continental rather than national project.

"We are for Africa, not just Nigeria. Tell us what you need, and we will see how we can work together," the Dangote Industries President and Chief Executive said.

If completed, the twin-refinery strategy would place Dangote at the centre of Africa's energy transition, not away from fossil fuels, but away from dependence on imported refined products.

By linking West and East Africa through two mega-refineries, the group is positioning itself to become one of the continent's most influential suppliers of transportation fuels while advancing a broader vision of African industrial self-sufficiency.