NAIROBI — Kenyan President William Ruto on Thursday proposed the construction of a massive joint oil refinery in Tanzania’s port city of Tanga, modeled after Nigeria’s Dangote plant, to insulate East Africa from volatile global energy markets.
Speaking at an infrastructure financing conference in Nairobi, Ruto said the facility would process crude oil from Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The move comes as regional economies struggle with the fallout from Middle Eastern conflicts, which have disrupted traditional supply chains and sent fuel prices soaring.
“We are going to have a joint refinery in Tanga to benefit all of us,” Ruto told the forum, which included regional leaders and industrialist Aliko Dangote.
Africa’s richest man expressed his readiness to lead the multi-billion dollar project, pledging to complete it within five years if regional governments provide unified support.
The proposal marks a significant shift toward energy sovereignty for the East African Community (EAC). Simultaneously, Kenyan officials in Rome held high-level talks with Italian counterparts to launch the “AI 10B Initiative,” a $10 billion fund aimed at scaling AI infrastructure across the continent.
These dual tracks—heavy industrial energy and high-tech digital investment—form the centerpiece of Ruto’s current economic diplomacy.
