Tanzania’s richest man offers $100m for Dangote’s planned Kenya refinery

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.

According to Bloomberg, Dangote has not yet held talks with Dewji about the proposed investment. Dewji said he plans to contact the Nigerian billionaire directly to discuss the opportunity.

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The refinery, expected to be located in Lamu on Kenya’s coast, was initially planned for Tanga in northern Tanzania before Dangote shifted the project to Kenya. While the billionaire has not given detailed reasons for the change, he said the Kenyan site offered better commercial and technical advantages.

A Dangote executive told Bloomberg that interest from investors has been strong.
“So many potential investors have been approaching us,” the executive said.

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William Ruto, the Kenyan President has said construction of the refinery is expected to begin this year.

The planned facility would become the second largest refinery in Africa after Dangote’s Lagos refinery, which currently processes about 650,000 barrels of crude oil a day. Dangote plans to expand that capacity to about 1.4 million barrels a day over the coming years.

The expansion is being supported by a $4 billion syndicated financing package, including $2.5 billion from the African Export Import Bank. The group has also signed a $400 million agreement with Chinese equipment manufacturer XCMG Construction Machinery to support dthe evelopment of the refinery complex.

Dangote is also expanding its investments across Tanzania despite relocating the refinery project. The group is developing a seaport, a 2,000 megawatt coal fired power plplant,and a 40 kilometre concrete road to improve access to the port. It also plans to establish a special economic zone, build a urea fertiliser plant and develop transport links between Mtwara and Mbamba Bay.

According to Billionaire Africa, Dewji built the MeTL Group into one of East Africa’s largest privately owned conglomerates, with interests spanning manufacturing, agriculture, energy, logistics, textiles and consumer goods. He remains one of Africa’s youngest billionaires and one of the continent’s most prominent industrial investors.