Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote wins Kenya case over $16 billion refinery

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has cleared another legal hurdle in Kenya after a tribunal dismissed a consumer group’s challenge to his planned $16 billion oil refinery in the coastal county of Lamu.

Kenya’s Public Private Partnerships Petition Committee threw out the case brought by the Consumers Federation of Kenya on Friday. The committee found that the group had not shown the refinery is a public-private partnership, and that it had given no legal basis for an order forcing the government to release documents on the deal.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi told the committee the refinery is “a private commercial investment” and that there is no plan to transfer it to the state. Any help from the government, he said, “is support that would be available to any qualifying private investor.”

The consumer group, known as COFEK, filed its petition in early October, days after Dangote and Kenyan President William Ruto launched the project on Sept. 30. Stephen Mutoro, the group’s secretary general, announced the filing, which was made under Section 75 of Kenya’s Public Private Partnerships Act of 2021.

What the consumer group wanted

COFEK asked the committee to set aside any approvals for the refinery that did not comply with the law and to have them reconsidered. It wanted the government to explain how the project was approved, which procurement route was used and which agency had the authority to sign for the state.

The group also sought details of Kenya’s planned stake in the refinery, including the vehicle that would hold it, the class of shares and the payment terms. Kenya has been weighing a 10% interest valued at about $500 million, or 65 billion shillings. COFEK asked whether that money had only been budgeted or had already been committed or paid, and it raised questions about a reported 21.5 billion shilling ($167 million) seed allocation. It also asked for details of about 7,000 acres of land linked to the project, including whether the land counts toward Kenya’s contribution, and for evidence of public participation.

Dangote’s group has offered East African governments a combined 30% stake in the refinery. Rwanda and Kenya have committed to buying shares so far, while Tanzania has not said whether it will take up an equity stake.

Two other cases still pending

The ruling ends one of three legal challenges to the project. In the Environment and Land Court in Malindi, 133 residents of Chandavai in Lamu County say the refinery site sits on their ancestral land and that they have not been properly compensated or given a resettlement plan. Judge Jane Onyango lifted an order freezing activity on the land on Oct. 14 after finding the residents had named the wrong land parcel in their petition. The case returns to court on Nov. 24, when their amended petition is due to be heard.

In a separate case, activist Francis Awino has asked the High Court to order the government to disclose the public money, land, tax incentives and guarantees it plans to commit to the project. Justice David Mburu certified that case as urgent on Oct. 6 and set a mention for Nov. 12.

Dangote has brushed off the court fights. “Anybody who wants to cause trouble, we are ready,” he said after the residents’ case was filed.

Africa’s largest refining push

The Lamu plant is designed to process 700,000 barrels of crude a day, the same capacity as the refinery Dangote opened near Lagos, Nigeria, which is the largest single-train refinery in the world. The Kenyan complex is expected to include a 1,000-megawatt power plant and to supply fuel to Kenya and its neighbors, which now import almost all of their refined products. Dangote has said he aims to finish it within 40 months.

Dangote, 69, is Africa’s richest person. He built his fortune in cement, sugar and fertilizer before betting much of it on the Nigerian refinery, which began production in 2024 after years of delays and cost overruns.(Billionaires Africa)