{"id":9148,"date":"2026-10-01T07:35:37","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T07:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/govinfohub.go.ug\/?p=9148"},"modified":"2026-10-01T07:35:44","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T07:35:44","slug":"museveni-backs-multiple-east-african-refineries-to-boost-regional-value-addition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/govinfohub.go.ug\/index.php\/2026\/10\/01\/museveni-backs-multiple-east-african-refineries-to-boost-regional-value-addition\/","title":{"rendered":"Museveni Backs Multiple East African Refineries to Boost Regional Value Addition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Caroline Nakire<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LAMU, Kenya<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has backed the development of multiple oil refineries in East Africa, saying countries in the region should process their petroleum resources locally and retain more value from their natural resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Museveni made the remarks on Wednesday during the groundbreaking ceremony for the $16 billion Dangote East Africa Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals Special Economic Zone in Lamu, Kenya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The refinery, which will have a processing capacity of 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day, is expected to supply petroleum products to Kenya and other regional markets. Construction is expected to take about 40 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Museveni said the Lamu refinery should not prevent Uganda and Tanzania from pursuing their own refining projects, arguing that the region requires more than one facility to meet its growing energy needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I am very happy about this refinery. And in Uganda we have got some petroleum. We are going to build a small refinery in Uganda. We had planned this long ago. We can’t change that,” Museveni said.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said Uganda’s planned refinery would serve the country and markets in the interior of Africa, while also indicating that a refinery in Tanzania could operate alongside facilities in Uganda and Kenya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We had also discussed a refinery in Tanga. I don’t know what happened. This one, I support, but I will not invest yet. I want to discuss with Ruto and Samia what happened,” he said.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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African leaders including Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (L), President Yoweri Museveni (2nd L), Kenya’s President William Ruto (3rd L), former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo (5th L) and Aliko Dangote (6th L) during the groundbreaking for the Dangote refinery in Mokowe, Lamu County<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uganda and Tanzania agreed in August to develop the Tanga Regional Energy Hub through a partnership involving the Uganda National Oil Company, Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation and Vitol Bahrain. The hub is expected to include petroleum storage, refining, logistics, trading and distribution facilities and builds on the wider Uganda-Tanzania energy partnership and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Museveni linked the refinery debate to the broader need for African countries to add value to their raw materials rather than exporting them in unprocessed form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using coffee as an example, he said countries should not export raw coffee when they can process it into finished products and capture greater economic value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He similarly argued that petroleum, cotton and gold should be processed further within Africa where possible, creating industries, jobs and additional revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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President Museveni and Kenyan President William Ruto during the launch.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kenyan President William Ruto said the Lamu refinery would serve a wider regional market, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruto also highlighted the project’s potential to create jobs, develop local skills and expand opportunities for local businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aliko Dangote, Chairman of Dangote Industries, said the project was part of his broader effort to promote African industrialisation by processing more of the continent’s raw materials locally. He said up to 30% equity in the refinery has been offered to East African states and that the facility is expected to create about 60,000 jobs during construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Museveni also used the occasion to call for deeper regional integration, arguing that East African countries can benefit from shared markets, investment and labour mobility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lamu project marks a major expansion of Dangote’s petroleum interests beyond Nigeria, where the group operates a large refinery. The Kenyan facility is expected to supply fuel to East African markets and reduce reliance on imported petroleum products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The groundbreaking was attended by several African leaders and senior officials, including Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Togo’s President Jean-Lucien Savi de Tove, Benin’s President Romuald Wadagni and former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Caroline Nakire LAMU, Kenya President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has backed the development of multiple oil refineries in East Africa, saying countries in the region should process their petroleum resources locally and retain more value from their natural resources. Museveni made the remarks on Wednesday during the groundbreaking ceremony for the $16 billion Dangote East […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9151,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,25,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-energy-minerals","category-finance"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t