The president of Kenya, William Ruto, has proposed the development of a jointly-owned oil refinery with Uganda in Tanga, historic port city in Tanzania, to serve multiple East African countries.
Speaking at the Africa Finance Corporation conference in Nairobi, Ruto said the refinery would process crude oil sourced from across East and Central Africa, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda.
East African region, increasingly exposed to the ripple effects of the ongoing conflict in Iran, is seeking to cushion its economies by cutting reliance on imported petroleum products.
“And by the way, we are discussing a refinery in Tanzania… we are going to have a joint refinery in Tanga to benefit all of us,” Ruto said, stressing that the project is being considered as a shared regional investment rather than separate national refineries.
Focus on pipelines and existing assets
Speaking further, The Kenyan president explained that the proposed facility would be supported by a combination of new and existing pipeline infrastructure to improve efficiency and lower costs across the region.
“And we will just need to build a short pipeline from Tanga to Mombasa. And the finished product will use the pipeline that we already jointly own with Uganda,” he said.
Ruto added that using shared infrastructure would help ensure that investments across the oil value chain become commercially viable.
“So all our assets become profitable,” he said.
Ruto emphasised the need for a broader, long-term approach to development, warning against fragmented, country-by-country strategies that could limit economic gains.
“But you need a longer-term view… not just a short-term country-by-country,” he said, adding that divisions within the East African Community have previously slowed progress on collective economic initiatives.
“That is why fragmentation is also part of our enemy… some people broke up the East African community because they didn’t see the benefit of the bigger market,” he said.
Investors and institutions expected to play key role
The president noted that both public and private sector stakeholders are increasingly aligned on the need to invest in large-scale infrastructure projects that can unlock regional growth.
He pointed to the role of financial institutions such as the Africa Finance Corporation and industrial players like Aliko Dangote in supporting such initiatives.
“They also appreciate that it is their responsibility to invest in this infrastructure, because it makes them money and it grows their bank balance sheets,” Ruto said.
Rising regional oil ambitions
The proposal comes as East African countries ramp up efforts to commercialise oil discoveries and strengthen energy security through regional cooperation.
Uganda and Tanzania are already advancing the East African Crude Oil Pipeline project, which will transport crude oil from Uganda’s oil fields to the Tanzanian port of Tanga for export to international markets.
A shared refinery in Tanga could complement these efforts by enabling local processing of crude, reducing import dependence and creating a more integrated regional energy market.
If realised, the project would mark a significant shift toward coordinated energy infrastructure development in East Africa, with potential benefits for supply stability, investment flows and economic growth across participating countries.
