By Desire Emmanuel
Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni and the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, on Sunday, May 17, held talks over proposed East African regional refinery to be built by the Nigerian billionaire.
Museveni announced the development on his verified X handle after the meeting held in Nakasero, a neighbourhood of Kampala, the country’s capital.
According to Museveni, he informed Dangote that from the very beginning, his government has always opposed the export of raw materials without value addition.
He added that this was why Uganda delayed oil production because the government insisted on first having a refinery, as it would not make economic or strategic sense to simply export crude oil while others benefit from the finished products.
“I, therefore, welcomed the idea of a bigger regional refinery because our objective is African integration and shared prosperity.
“We cannot continue operating as fragmented and weak markets. If East Africa works together, such projects become more viable and beneficial to our people,” Museveni stated.
He also disclosed that Uganda is ready to support the regional refinery initiative while also continuing with the development of its own refinery in Hoima.
It will be recalled that last week, Dangote, in an interview with Financial Times, said he was looking at Kenya as the site of a 650,000-barrel-a-day refinery that he intends to build in East Africa.
“I’m leaning more towards Mombasa because Mombasa has a much larger, deeper port,” Dangote said in the interview.
The report comes after Kenyan President, William Ruto, said last month that East African countries were discussing plans for a joint oil refinery at the Tanzanian port of Tanga that is modeled on Dangote operation.
Dangote estimated it would cost $15 billion to $17 billion to build the refinery, the FT report said.
