Aliko Dangote has promised to establish a training school in Lamu, Kenya, to train 1,000 local people for jobs linked to the $16 billion Dangote East Africa Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals project.
Dangote, President of Dangote Industries Limited, made the commitment on Wednesday at the groundbreaking ceremony of the project, saying the initiative would help build the local skills needed to support the refinery and the wider industrial ecosystem expected to grow around it.
He said the training programme would target people with engineering degrees, diplomas, and other relevant qualifications, preparing them for employment opportunities created by the project.
Dangote said the refinery would require a large pool of engineers and other skilled workers as construction progresses, adding that developing local expertise would reduce the need to bring foreign workers into Africa for major infrastructure projects.
He specifically said the project would help ensure that Africa would not continue to depend on workers from countries such as China and India to build its infrastructure.
He said the Lamu project would create opportunities across energy, petrochemicals, logistics, engineering, marine services, manufacturing, technology, and small and medium-sized enterprises.
“When you build an industrial project of this scale, you do not simply build a refinery. You build possibilities around it,” he said.
Dangote said the scale of the project would also create demand for workers and businesses outside the refinery itself, noting that the project could require support from neighbouring counties and countries.
He said the refinery was designed to process approximately 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day and generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity.
It will also produce polypropylene and base oil.
Dangote said the broader objective was to strengthen the region’s energy security, reduce dependence on imported refined petroleum products, and retain more value within African economies.
He said the project would build on the experience gained from the Dangote refinery in Lagos while combining Kenyan talent with global technology.
“We built it to demonstrate something much bigger: that Africa can build at a global scale,” he said.
Dangote also assured the gathering that the refinery would be commissioned within 40 months.
“Lamu must prove that it can be repeated,” he said.