Fossil energy | Headache in Kenya

Groundbreaking ceremony on the Kenyan island of Lamu. The oil refinery is expected to be the largest on the continent, alongside one in Kenya. Photo: AFP/LUIS TATO The excavators are rolling again on the site of the planned Lamu crude oil refinery. Last Wednesday, the responsible environmental and regional court in Malindi, Kenya, lifted a blockade on construction work that had been imposed in the meantime.

The reason for the construction stop was a lawsuit filed by 133 farmers and residents. The applicants are demanding recognition of their claim to the land. Even if they do not have official land titles, they rely on the de facto management of these lands by their families for generations. In view of the construction project, they are therefore demanding security for their livelihood. Due to formal deficiencies in the residents' application, the interim order has now been lifted. However, the lawsuit remains.

Entrepreneur Aliko Dangote had previously said he could not imagine that residents would seriously oppose their own progress. There is no fear of being taken to court over the oil project: "Whoever wants to cause us trouble - we are prepared for their trouble and will give them a headache."

A $16 billion oil refinery is currently being built on the Kenyan island of Lamu. The project is being driven by the Dangote Group, conglomerate owned by Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest man. Dangote has been operating the continent's largest oil refinery in Nigeria since 2024, with a capacity of up to 700,000 barrels per day. The refinery in Kenya is scheduled to start operating with the same capacity from 2030.

South Sudan and Uganda could be considered regional suppliers for the high demand for crude oil. Oil production in Uganda is planned for 2027 or upon completion of the controversial EACOP pipeline. Delivery from the Middle East and the USA would also be conceivable. The Dangote oil refinery in Nigeria has also relied on this in the past.

Unlike Nigeria, Kenya does not produce large quantities of oil. The first commercially produced oil is expected to flow here in December this year. Even in the assisted areas, residents complain of being systematically ignored.

According to the Kenyan government, the project is the largest direct investment ever in the country. It is hoped that the national economy will be boosted with up to 60,000 new jobs.

Kenyan President William Ruto described the groundbreaking ceremony on September 30th as a symbol that Africa had entered a new era. “This is African ambition, supported by African capital, which is building up African industry for the benefit of Africa,” he declared to high-ranking representatives from politics and business.

For too long, Africa has supplied the raw materials while others have claimed the processing, manufacturing, jobs and economic benefits. The new refinery is expected to reduce dependence on imported fuels, stabilize domestic fuel prices and strengthen energy security in the region.

East Africa has been hit hard by rising fuel prices since the Iran War. This sparked protests in Kenya in which at least four people died.

However, fuel prices are not the only financial burden on Kenyan households at the moment. Food is also becoming increasingly expensive. And climate change is increasingly seen as one of the main adversaries for Kenyan agriculture. Large-scale fossil fuel projects for the future are unlikely to counteract this.

"This project threatens to damage one of East Africa's most sensitive coastal ecosystems while simultaneously forcing Kenya into a risky fossil fuel future," Greenpeace Africa said in a statement published in July.

The promise of temporary jobs should not serve to conceal the actual costs of such a large-scale fossil fuel project. This would endanger existing livelihoods in fishing, tourism and local small businesses.

»We have a different kind of headache. We need answers to our questions.«

According to the Lamu Environment Foundation, the Lamu archipelago is home to 61 percent of Kenya’s mangrove forests. Other ecosystems such as seagrass meadows and coral reefs are also in the immediate vicinity of the planned refinery. Concerns about cultural heritage were also expressed. The old town of Lamu is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It is not the first time that Lamu has become the scene of a conflict between people and industry. In 2019, a coalition of environmental and grassroots organizations went to court to prevent a coal-fired power plant from being built. Amu Power's building permit was revoked and its appeal was also rejected.

The citizens' initiative "Save Lamu", which was involved in the lawsuit at the time, has now published a statement with regard to the planned oil refinery in which it calls for transparency, citizen participation and compliance with environmental protection measures. “We demand responsible development,” it says. Environmental reports and risk assessments must definitely be disclosed. Referring to Dangote's headache comment, the spokesman said: "We have a different kind of headache. We need answers to our questions.«

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