Billionaire Aliko Dangote has publicly downplayed a Kenyan court order affecting land at the proposed Lamu refinery site, telling investors that legal challenges of this nature are routine for his conglomerate across Africa. Dangote made the remarks at an investor meeting at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, hours after reportedly reading a Bloomberg report about the order while arriving in Kenya the previous night. He described the court ruling as "small" and cited similar experiences in other African countries.
The Malindi Environment and Land Court issued the order on September 25, directing that the status quo on LR No. 13061 in the Hindi/Manda Magogoni area be maintained until an October 14 hearing. The case was filed by 133 residents of Chandavai in Lamu county, who claim the land is their ancestral heritage. The court declined to certify the application as urgent and did not grant the residents' request to halt the refinery's groundbreaking or development.
Respondents, including the National Land Commission, the LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority, and Dangote Industries, have 14 days to file their responses. The order carries a penal notice indicating that non-compliance could attract legal consequences. Dangote Group clarified the scope of the ruling in a statement, saying the court has not halted the groundbreaking ceremony of the refinery at this stage, but activities at the site may be affected by the ruling.
The groundbreaking ceremony remains scheduled for September 30, 2026, with President William Ruto expected to attend alongside Dangote. Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi has confirmed the event will proceed as planned. The Lamu refinery is designed to process up to 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day and forms part of the wider Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor.
Dangote has indicated the project will cost between $15 billion and $16 billion, with a target completion date of 2030. The development has been positioned as a boost to regional energy security, employment, and infrastructure, though it has also attracted scrutiny over environmental impact, land rights, and commercial viability.
Dangote drew on a similar experience in Senegal as evidence that his group has experience navigating judicial obstacles across the continent. He framed the Kenyan legal challenge as one the company is well-equipped to handle. Dangote Group has not yet detailed its next legal steps in the Kenyan case.
Separately, Dangote has proposed to sell Kenya 500MW of electricity from a planned power plant linked to his Lamu refinery project. Kenya Power is in discussions over a possible power purchase agreement, but key terms remain unresolved. The proposed 1,000MW plant would generate power for the refinery and the national grid, while the wider project is expected to create about 60,000 jobs.
Key points
- The Kenyan court ruling does not halt the groundbreaking ceremony of the Lamu refinery project.
- Aliko Dangote downplays the court ruling, citing similar experiences in other African countries.
- The Lamu refinery project is expected to cost between $15 billion and $16 billion and create about 60,000 jobs.
