William Ruto and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni are in talks to convince Aliko Dangote to build an East African Community refinery in Tanzania. Speaking at an African Finance Corporation (AFC) summit in Nairobi, Kenyan President Ruto stated that his government is discussing a joint refinery with Uganda, to be based in Tanzania.
Africa’s richest man was speaking at a presidential roundtable with the two presidents, where the topic was raised.
“We are discussing the possibility of creating a joint refinery in Tanga (Tanzania) that will benefit all, as this refinery will process oil from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, South Sudan, and Uganda,” President Ruto said.
While these discussions are ongoing with Mr. Dangote, President Museveni is continuing to implement a revised and more modest oil refinery project in Uganda. The refinery is designed to process 60,000 barrels of crude oil per day (bpd) in the Hoima district, which is significantly lower than previous, abandoned proposals of larger capacity.
This project represents a strategic shift for the Ugandan president, who favors local processing over exporting all crude oil, even though it creates tensions with major upstream developers.
“Even now, I can commit to both presidents present: if they support the refinery, we will build one identical to the one we have in Nigeria,” Mr. Dangote said.
This announcement comes as Dangote Petroleum Refinery plans a historic pan-African IPO in May 2026, aiming to list five to ten percent of its shares on several African exchanges, including the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX).
