Nairobi — Construction of Dangote's Lamu oil refinery will be financed through a combination of debt and shareholders' funds ahead of construction commencement in October 2026.

According to Business Daily, 70 percent of the project's financing, equivalent to about Sh1.45 trillion, will come through debt, based on a total project cost of Sh2 trillion, which was recently revised downwards from an earlier estimate of Sh2.2 trillion.

The remaining 30 percent, or about Sh621 billion, will be financed by shareholders, including Aliko Dangote.

Dangote recently announced that construction of the oil refinery on Lamu Island will begin in October.

"By October this year, we will be groundbreaking. Once we break the ground, we will begin the construction," Dangote said.

The refinery is expected to have a processing capacity of 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day, making it the largest refinery in East Africa and the second-largest on the continent after Dangote's refinery in Lagos, Nigeria.

Dangote announced plans in April to expand his refining business into East Africa, with the Lamu facility expected to be modelled on his refinery in Nigeria.

The proposed refinery is expected to supply refined petroleum products to Kenya and neighbouring markets, including Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, reducing reliance on imported refined petroleum products.