Kenyan President William Ruto used a state visit to Tanzania to promote plans for a regional oil refinery in the northern Tanzanian city of Tanga, seeking to build political support for a project aimed at boosting East Africa’s energy integration.
The proposal, first raised at a mining conference in Nairobi in April attended by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote, envisions a large refinery processing crude from across East and Central Africa.
Dangote is reportedly considering financing the project, which would mirror the scale of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Nigeria.
The initiative initially appeared to catch Tanzanian authorities off guard.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan publicly criticised Ruto shortly after his arrival in Dar es Salaam on Monday, prompting the Kenyan leader to spend much of the two-day visit clarifying the proposal and seeking broader political backing.
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Ruto later used appearances at a Tanzania-Kenya Business Forum in Dar es Salaam and an address to Tanzania’s National Assembly in Dodoma to frame the refinery as a regional integration project rather than a national Kenyan initiative.
Lawmakers in Tanzania’s ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) signalled openness to the proposal during parliamentary discussions.
Jumaa Aweso, lawmaker for Pangani in Tanga and Tanzania’s minister for water and irrigation, said his constituency was prepared to support the project if approved by the government.
“We will willingly participate in making this enterprise a success according to the instructions we receive from the President,” Aweso said.
The refinery proposal formed part of wider bilateral talks focused on trade, infrastructure and energy cooperation between the neighbouring countries.
Kenya and Tanzania signed eight agreements during the visit, including plans for a feasibility study on a natural gas pipeline linking Dar es Salaam to the Kenyan port city of Mombasa.
Other agreements covered railway cooperation, agriculture, maritime affairs, legal collaboration, standards harmonisation and public service capacity building.
The two countries also pledged to eliminate remaining non-tariff barriers by June 30 in a bid to expand trade within the East African Community.
According to Ruto, trade between Kenya and Tanzania reached US$860.3 million in 2025, accounting for nearly 40 percent of intra-East African Community commerce.
He said trade flows could have exceeded $1 billion were it not for bureaucratic barriers that reduced commerce by nearly $100 million between 2024 and 2025.
In a lengthy address to parliament, Ruto framed the refinery project as part of a broader push for regional economic cooperation and shared prosperity.
“We must ask ourselves honestly: Are we moving forward together, or do we risk becoming victims of the same limiting forces?” he said, referring to the collapse of the original East African Community in 1977.
Ruto argued that the exact location of the refinery mattered less than its regional economic benefits.
“While I would naturally have preferred such a facility in Mombasa, I fully recognise that Tanga, less than 200 kilometres away, is part of the same economic space,” he said.
“What matters is whether it strengthens our shared prosperity.”
The Kenyan leader also sought to address longstanding concerns in Tanzania about trade imbalances favouring Kenya.
He said Tanzanian investments in Kenya were increasing rapidly and could more than double if mistrust between the two countries eased.
“There is a saying that you can choose your friends but your neighbours are chosen by God,” Ruto said.
“Let’s stop this common myth that Kenyans and Tanzanians are enemies.”
The visit came amid broader regional diplomatic activity, including discussions involving Rwandan President Paul Kagame on railway connectivity and cross-border energy cooperation projects in East Africa.
Analysts said the refinery proposal, if realised, could significantly reshape regional fuel supply chains and strengthen East Africa’s ambitions for greater energy self-sufficiency.
