Nigerian business magnate Aliko Dangote is targeting Mombasa, Kenya, as the site for his 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery in East Africa, a project estimated to cost between $15 billion and $17 billion.

“I’m leaning more towards Mombasa because Mombasa has a much larger, deeper port,” Mr Dangote said in an interview with the Financial Times published Sunday.

Mr Dangote had earlier announced plans to replicate his Lagos refinery in Tanga, Tanzania, and partner with Kenya and Uganda for the project.

He spoke at an infrastructure summit in Nairobi on April 23, with Kenyan President William Ruto and his Ugandan counterpart, Yoweri Museveni, in attendance.

“If they (Messrs Ruto and Museveni) will support the refinery, we’ll build the identical one that we have in Nigeria,” he said.

The industrialist, however, said Mombasa was a better location than Tanga, citing economic advantages.

He highlighted that Kenya consumes more fuel and has “a bigger economy,” noting that crude oil could be shipped in rather than locating the refinery near a pipeline that will transport oil about 1,500 kilometres from Uganda’s oilfields to Tanga.

For the refinery to take off, Mr Dangote said Mr Ruto’s support would be needed for land, financing, and protection from cheap fuel imports from India and Russia.

“There is no refinery in the world that can survive without that protection,” said Africa’s richest man. “If we have an agreement, we can start this year.”

His push for a refinery in East Africa could boost the region’s energy self-sufficiency, reducing its dependence on fuel imports that have made it vulnerable to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.

“The ball is in the hands of President Ruto,” he said. “Whatever President Ruto says is what I’ll do.”

Mr Dangote also said plans were underway to scale up the capacity of his Lagos refinery to 1.4 million barrels per day, making it the world’s largest refining facility.

“We’ll be price movers in the market,” said Mr Dangote, whose Lagos facility commenced operations in September 2024.

Mr Ruto praised the businessman, citing Nigeria’s long reliance on fuel imports “until one African stepped forward and built a refinery.”

“Nigeria has been a producer of oil for all the years that we know,” he said. “Yet, when you went to Nigeria, there were queues of people looking for fuel in petrol stations.”

Meanwhile, Tanzanian President Samia Hassan complained to Mr Ruto last week that the businessman had not consulted her before announcing plans to build a refinery in her country.

“Why did you announce a refinery in Tanga, and I know nothing about it?” Ms Hassan told Mr Ruto in a private meeting, according to the Financial Times.