Addressing the National Assembly in Tanzania on Tuesday, President Ruto urged regional leaders to embrace the move and sufficiently utilize local resources to upscale social and infrastructure development.
He said that the refinery will cure the long-running dependence on oil supply from the Middle East, which supplies a large share of refined oil to East Africa.
“The resources we have are good enough to help us find jobs and wealth. We agreed that if we unite as three nations, we will build that oil refinery,” he said.
“We had a conference in Nairobi and said that the opportunity we have is not to export raw materials and import finished products, we proposed that if we unite Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, jobs will remain here, we should produce fertilizer here, plastic here, instead of going to the Straight of Hormuz and bringing it here.”
He said, referring to the Africa We Build Summit 2026 held in April, 2026, where Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote intimated on a plan to lead the construction of a major oil refinery in Tanzania if regional governments backed the initiative.
“I can give a commitment to the two presidents who are here: if they will support the refinery, we’ll build the identical one that we have in Nigeria – 650,000 barrels. It will work,” Dangote said.
President Ruto affirmed his commitment that Kenya is willing to become a partner in the transformative move
“The crude oil pipeline is already heading to Tanga. And if so, it will be very short from Tanga to Mombasa. We will not be bothered with Hormuz and other places,” he added.
“What is good for Tanzania is good for Kenya, and what is good for Kenya is good for Tanzania.”
The proposed facility, set to cost about USD 20 billion (Ksh.2.58 trillion) aims to provide a sustainable solution for the growing fuel demand in Eastern Africa as to cushion the region from external shocks like the war between the United States and Iran, which has significantly affected fuel prices.
This comes as Uganda is developing a 60,000-barrel-per-day oil refinery in Kabaale, Hoima District, with a projected July 2026 Final Investment Decision (FID). The USD 4 billion billion+ project, aimed at reducing fuel import costs.
President Yoweri Museveni has said that the project was set to benefit Uganda’s internal market and parts of Kenya and Uganda, but a surplus will be channelled to the refinery in Tanga.
