The planned groundbreaking of Dangote Group’s proposed 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Lamu is set to proceed, even as a Kenyan court considers a land dispute involving residents who claim ancestral interests in part of the site.
The Malindi Environment and Land Court has ordered parties to maintain the existing status quo on disputed land identified as LR No. 13061 in the Hindi/Manda Magogoni area until an inter partes hearing on October 14. The case was brought by 133 residents of Chandavai, who say portions of the land have been occupied, cultivated and used by their families for generations.
The court did not grant the residents’ separate request to prevent the planned September 30 groundbreaking. Dangote Group said the ceremony would therefore proceed, while acknowledging that the order could restrict activities on the affected site because the parties have been directed to preserve the prevailing position pending the hearing.
The dispute introduces a legal dimension to a project that Kenya and Dangote envisage as a major addition to the country’s energy and industrial infrastructure. The proposed refinery is expected to cost between $15 billion and $16 billion, with completion targeted around 2030. Its planned capacity would make it one of Africa’s largest refining projects and substantially expand refining capacity available to East African markets.
The facility is planned for the Lamu Port area within the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor, a long-term infrastructure programme intended to connect Kenya’s northern coast with markets and transport routes extending towards South Sudan and Ethiopia. The refinery is consequently being positioned not only as an energy project but also as a potential anchor for logistics, petrochemicals and related industrial activity around Lamu Port.
Feedstock remains an important consideration. Kenya is moving towards commercial crude production from the South Lokichar Basin in Turkana, with first oil targeted for December 2026 and initial exports expected in early 2027. The Lamu refinery is nevertheless expected to require crude from multiple sources, including other African producers, rather than relying exclusively on Kenyan production.
The project follows Dangote’s expansion of its refining interests beyond Nigeria. Its Lagos refinery, which has a 700,000-barrel-per-day design capacity, is currently the subject of an initial public offering in Nigeria. Dangote is seeking to raise about 2.15 trillion naira, or roughly $1.6 billion, through the sale of 4.1 billion shares, with proceeds intended partly to support expansion of the Nigerian facility.
For Lamu, however, the immediate issue remains the court proceedings. The October 14 hearing is expected to provide the next substantive examination of the residents’ claims and the interests attached to the disputed land.
Until then, the refinery’s groundbreaking and its longer-term construction timetable remain separate from the unresolved question of rights over the affected parcel. The court process will determine how that issue develops alongside one of East Africa’s most ambitious proposed industrial investments.
