Business
ON-GOING: Dangote $16 billion refinery groundbreaking holds in Kenya (Images)
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, and Kenyan President William Ruto are currently breaking ground on a landmark $16 billion oil refinery in Lamu, on Kenya’s northern coast.

The ceremony, held on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, formally launches construction of the 700,000-barrel-per-day facility, which is set to become the largest refinery in East Africa and the second-largest on the continent after Dangote’s plant in Lekki, Nigeria. The project aims to replicate the success of the Nigerian refinery by processing crude for regional markets, reducing East Africa’s long-standing dependence on imported refined petroleum products, lowering fuel costs, and conserving scarce foreign exchange.
Several African leaders are attending the groundbreaking, including the presidents of Uganda and Ethiopia, along with other regional heads of state and former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. The event underscores growing continental efforts to process raw materials locally rather than exporting crude and importing finished fuels.

Once completed around 2030, the Lamu refinery is expected to supply Kenya and neighbouring countries such as Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda, and others. Officials project it will create between 50,000 and 60,000 jobs and stimulate related industries, including petrochemicals and bitumen production. The complex will also feature a 1,000-megawatt power plant, with plans to sell a portion of the electricity to the Kenyan government.
Dangote has offered East African governments a combined 30% equity stake in the project. Financing is structured with roughly 70% debt and 30% equity. The facility is located near Lamu’s deep-water port, chosen for its strategic advantages in handling large-scale industrial operations.

While the project has faced some local land-related protests and a court order maintaining the status quo pending a hearing, the groundbreaking is proceeding as planned. Dangote has dismissed the challenges and reaffirmed that construction will move forward, with the plant targeted for completion in under four years.
The development is being hailed as one of Kenya’s biggest infrastructure investments since independence and a major step toward regional energy security and industrialisation.
Business
Dangote Cement Shelves $18 billion Listing On LSE
Its shares will remain listed on the Nigerian Exchange, and the decision will not affect its operations or business plans.
Dangote Cement Plc has abandoned plans for a secondary listing of $18 billion on the London Stock Exchange and preferring to keep its shares exclusively on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX).
The decision , according to the company is because the LSE has been struggling to attract major new listings as companies increasingly reconsider their presence on the UK bourse.
In May this year , Aliko Dangote said that he was holding early discussions about a potential London listing.
The move would have given the company access to a broader pool of international investors and additional sources of capital.
However, the company said on Tuesday that it had abandoned the plan, citing market conditions and strategic priorities. Its shares will remain listed on the Nigerian Exchange, and the decision will not affect its operations or business plans.
Business
I sold heavy weapons internationally – Orji Kalu
“Yes, so I stopped because my parents, my mother, my father came and said I must stop, and I stopped,” he said.
The Senator representing Abia North, Orji Kalu, has disclosed that he previously engaged in the international trade of heavy weapons, selling arms to buyers in different countries before quitting the business at the insistence of his parents.
Kalu made the revelation during an interview on Arise Television on Monday, while discussing his business background and relationships with former and current South African leaders.
Asked whether he was an arms dealer, the former Abia State governor answered in the affirmative, saying he stopped after his parents intervened.
“Yes, so I stopped because my parents, my mother, my father came and said I must stop, and I stopped,” he said.
Asked whether he sold weapons to people who intended to use them to kill others, Kalu dismissed the suggestion, saying his motivation was to make money.
“No, no, no, no, no, no. I was selling guns to make money, whether they blow up it’s not my business,” he said
Business
Dividends: Airtel Africa To Pay Nigerian Shareholders USD N1,347.44 / Share
For London investors, the sterling equivalent was fixed at $1 to £0.7464
Airtel Africa Plc says it will pay its 3.1 US cents interim dividend at a dollar-to-naira conversion rate of N1,347.44.
That translates to about N41.77 per qualifying share for Nigerian investors.
The company disclosed the rate in a notice filed with the Nigerian Exchange (NGX).
The interim dividend is 3.1 US cents per ordinary share, a 9.2% increase from the previous year’s payment.
The approved naira rate is about 7.5% lower than the N1,456 per dollar that applied to the corresponding 2025 interim dividend.
Both the naira and sterling conversion rates were derived from dollar exchange rates available on October 30, 2026.
For London investors, the sterling equivalent was fixed at $1 to £0.7464. That puts the payment at approximately 2.31 pence per share.
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