Museveni backs multiple East African refineries, renews call for political integration

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said East Africa can sustain multiple oil refineries, including the planned $16 billion Dangote refinery in Lamu, even as Uganda proceeds with its own Hoima project and Tanzania and Uganda explore an energy hub in Tanga.

Speaking during the groundbreaking ceremony in Lamu on Wednesday, Museveni rejected the argument that several refineries in the region would necessarily be unviable.

“The refinery here in Lamu can be there. The one in Tanga can be there. The one in Uganda will be there. The one in Nigeria, I am happy,” Museveni said.

His remarks come as East Africa develops several potentially overlapping petroleum projects. Uganda is pursuing a 60,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Hoima, while Uganda and Tanzania have signed an agreement to develop the Tanga Regional Energy Hub. Kenya is now backing Dangote's proposed 700,000-barrel-per-day Lamu refinery.

Museveni raises regional integration question

Museveni used the refinery project to renew his longstanding call for deeper political integration within East Africa, arguing that major regional industries inevitably raise questions about how jobs, taxes and investment benefits are shared across national borders.

He pointed to Nigeria, where crude produced in one part of the country can be processed in another without creating the same cross-border disputes over employment and revenue.

Museveni argued that similar issues could arise if Ugandan crude is processed in Kenya while most of the associated jobs and industrial activity remain in Kenya.

He said cross-border ownership could partly address that problem.

“The idea of the East African countries buying shares in the refinery here, that's a smart one,” Museveni said, while adding that share ownership alone would not resolve questions around employment.

Dangote has offered regional governments a combined 30 per cent stake in the Lamu refinery, with Rwanda among the countries that have expressed interest.

Uganda wants to process its own crude

Museveni reiterated that Uganda does not intend to abandon its domestic refining plans.

He said his preference has long been for Uganda to process its petroleum rather than simply export crude, although the country subsequently agreed to allow some production to be exported.

Uganda is simultaneously developing the Hoima refinery and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline to Tanzania. The EACOP project was reported to be more than 92 per cent complete by the end of August.

The Ugandan leader said these projects should be viewed within the broader strategic objective of increasing African processing capacity rather than merely exporting raw materials.

Museveni praises Ruto and Dangote

Museveni congratulated President William Ruto for attracting Dangote's investment to Kenya and praised Aliko Dangote for moving from importing products to building large-scale African manufacturing and refining businesses.

He said the fundamental significance of the Lamu refinery was that more African leaders and businesses were recognising the economic cost of exporting commodities without processing them.

“What is strategic, and what I'm happy about, is that Africans have woken up,” Museveni said.

The Lamu refinery is planned to process 700,000 barrels of crude per day, with Dangote targeting completion within 40 months. Regional governments and delegations attended Wednesday's groundbreaking, reinforcing the project's positioning as an East African development rather than solely a Kenyan investment.