Yoweri Museveni, the President of Uganda, has disclosed that he met with African industrialist Aliko Dangote as discussions around a proposed regional refinery project in East Africa continue to gain momentum.
Museveni disclosed this on Sunday, May 17, in a post published on his official X account.
The meeting comes amid growing talks around Dangote’s intention to build another major refinery in East Africa, similar to the 650,000 barrels-per-day Dangote Petroleum Refinery located on the outskirts of Lagos, Nigeria — currently regarded as the largest refinery in Africa.
What Museveni is saying
According to President Museveni, the meeting with Dangote took place in Nakasero, one of Kampala’s most prominent commercial and administrative districts, where both men discussed the proposed East African regional refinery initiative.
Museveni said Uganda has consistently opposed the export of raw materials without local industrial processing and value addition, explaining that this philosophy was one of the reasons Uganda delayed crude oil production for years.
- “That is why Uganda delayed oil production because we insisted on first having a refinery. Without refining our oil, it would not make economic or strategic sense to simply export crude oil while others benefit from the finished products,” Museveni said.
The Ugandan leader further noted that he welcomed the idea of a larger regional refinery because it aligns with Uganda’s broader objective of African economic integration and shared prosperity across the continent.
He stressed that African countries can no longer afford to operate as fragmented markets if they hope to build globally competitive industrial projects. Museveni added that Uganda is prepared to support the proposed regional refinery initiative while simultaneously continuing development of its own refinery project in Hoima.
Get up to speed
Talks around a possible East African refinery project gained wider attention in April during the Africa Finance Corporation Summit held in Nairobi, Kenya.
Speaking during a panel session alongside William Ruto and Museveni, Dangote disclosed that his company was ready to replicate a refinery similar to the Lagos facility as part of broader efforts to expand refining capacity across Africa.
- “We are discussing that we are going to have a joint refinery in Tanga to benefit all of us. My commitment today here is that we will lead the refinery. We’ll make sure that that refinery is built within the next four to five years,” Dangote said at the time.
Although initial reports suggested the refinery could be located in Tanga and process crude from countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, later reports by the Financial Times indicated that Kenya was also being considered as a possible location for the project.
Museveni, however, did not disclose whether Uganda itself was being considered as the eventual site for the refinery.
What you should know
Dangote’s latest refinery ambitions in East Africa are coming at a time when the billionaire is already pursuing an aggressive expansion of his Lagos refinery complex.
- The refinery, which currently processes about 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, is expected to undergo a major scale-up that could raise total capacity to roughly 1.4 million barrels per day — a move that could position it as one of the largest refining facilities globally.
- To support the expansion, the African Export-Import Bank has reportedly underwritten $2.5 billion as part of a broader $4 billion syndicated term loan package.
- Earlier in February, the Dangote Group also signed a $400 million agreement with XCMG Construction Machinery to accelerate ongoing construction and expansion activities tied to the refinery project.
Beyond fuel refining, the expansion is also expected to significantly increase polypropylene production capacity from about 900,000 metric tonnes annually to roughly 2.4 million metric tonnes per year, strengthening the refinery’s role within Africa’s industrial and manufacturing supply chain.
