Kenyan President William Ruto and other African leaders on Wednesday joined the President/Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, to break ground for a $16 billion petroleum refinery and petrochemicals complex in Lamu, Kenya.

The Dangote East Africa Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals project, which will have a capacity of 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day, is expected to serve Kenya and other markets across the East African region.

Dangote said the project would be completed within 40 months, drawing on experience gained from the construction of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos.

He said equipment and technical resources had already begun to be mobilised for the project, which he described as one of the fastest major developments to be undertaken by the group.

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Dangote also announced a major local content programme, saying qualified graduates from Lamu would be offered employment opportunities while more than 1,000 young people from the county would receive technical and vocational training.

He said the company would establish a training school to develop the technical skills required for the refinery and its associated industries.

"We want young Kenyans and East Africans with skills here. We want local businesses to become suppliers. We want entrepreneurs around this project," Dangote said.

According to him, the success of the project would not only be measured by its refining capacity but also by the skills acquired by young people, the businesses created around the investment and improvements in the livelihoods of host communities.

"Industrialisation must have a human face. It must create dignity. It must create jobs. It must create opportunities. It must create hope," he said.

President Ruto described the project as a "generational undertaking" that would serve Kenya and the wider East African region.

He said the refinery would process about 700,000 barrels of crude daily and generate up to 1,000 megawatts of electricity.

The integrated complex will also produce polypropylene and base oil, expanding its activities beyond conventional petroleum refining.

Ruto projected that the development would generate about 60,000 direct and indirect jobs, while urging technical and vocational institutions and universities to prepare young Kenyans for employment opportunities.

He said the construction phase alone was expected to inject more than KSh2 billion monthly in wages into the local economy, with workers' earnings supporting businesses in areas including accommodation, transport, restaurants, shops and other services.

In another major development, Dangote disclosed that 30 per cent equity in the refinery would be made available to East African countries.

He said Kenya and Rwanda had already moved to take advantage of the opportunity, adding that the ownership structure would allow countries in the region to participate in the value created by the project.

Dangote said the refinery was designed as a regional asset that would serve Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other markets.

"This refinery is therefore not simply about one country. It is about a region," he said.

The industrialist also renewed his call for African countries to process more of their raw materials locally rather than export them and import finished products.

"Africa cannot build lasting prosperity by exporting what it has and importing what it needs," he said.

Meanwhile, Lamu County Governor Issa Timamy condemned attempts to halt the project through litigation, arguing that the investment could transform the economic fortunes of the county.

Addressing residents partly in Swahili, Timamy said those challenging the project in court did not represent the aspirations of Lamu residents.

He urged young people and local businesses to prepare for opportunities expected to emerge from the development, while stressing the need to protect the county's mangroves, fishing grounds, coastline and cultural heritage.

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo also praised Dangote's industrialisation drive, recalling his transition from trading and importation into large-scale manufacturing.

Obasanjo said the Lamu investment demonstrated what African entrepreneurship, supported by purposeful political leadership, could achieve and would deepen economic ties between West and East Africa.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni backed the regional ownership proposal, saying African countries should participate not only as markets but also as owners of major industrial projects.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said the refinery would strengthen East Africa's energy security and reduce the region's exposure to disruptions in global petroleum markets.

He said Dangote's investments in cement, fertiliser and petroleum refining had demonstrated that African enterprises could operate at global scale.

"East Africa is not only a market. It is a place to produce, to build and to create value," Abiy said.