Engineers India Limited (EIL) has signed a contract worth more than $450 million (₹3,735 crore) with the Dangote Group to serve as Project Management Consultant (PMC) and EPCM Consultant for a 700,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) greenfield refinery and petrochemical plant in Kenya, the company announced on September 22, 2026.

The contract extends a partnership that saw EIL serve as PMC and EPCM Consultant for the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Complex at the Lekki Free Zone in Nigeria — a 650,000 bpd facility currently being expanded to 1.4 million bpd. EIL is also associated with that expansion.

The Kenyan facility will be located in Lamu, on Kenya's Indian Ocean coast, and is designed to process a wider crude basket. Once completed, the complex is expected to strengthen fuel production within East Africa, cut the region's reliance on imports, support regional energy security, and supply petroleum products to the global market.

Dangote has said the refinery will not serve Kenya alone but is strategically positioned to supply petroleum products to the wider East African region and beyond, potentially reaching markets as far as Egypt.

The project is expected to cost between $15.5 billion and $16 billion, with the petrochemical complex and associated port infrastructure potentially taking total investment to about $20 billion.

The Dangote Group has offered East African countries a combined 30 per cent equity stake in the refinery, with Kenya, Ethiopia and Rwanda expressing interest. Kenya could take a 10 per cent stake valued at about $500 million, according to David Ndii, economic adviser to Kenyan President William Ruto. Financing is expected to be structured as 30 per cent equity and 70 per cent debt.

EIL’s Role and Track Record

EIL is a premier engineering consultancy organisation under India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The Government of India owns 51.32 per cent of the company, which operates as a Navratna public sector undertaking with more than 2,600 employees.

The company said the contract “is a strong affirmation of the trust reposed in EIL’s capabilities to deliver projects of exceptional scale and complexity.” EIL’s capabilities span the entire project lifecycle from concept to commissioning, across oil and gas, refining, petrochemicals, fertilisers, metallurgy, infrastructure and renewable energy.

EIL had earlier signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Dangote Group in November 2025 for the second train of Africa’s largest refinery, and was awarded a $350 million EPCM contract by Dangote in January 2026.

For EIL, the Kenya award deepens its international presence, diversifies revenue away from domestic hydrocarbon capex cycles, and adds a high-value, multi-year consultancy mandate. For the Dangote Group, headquartered in Lagos, the project represents another major expansion of its energy ambitions following the completion of its Nigerian refinery, which has emerged as a major source of refined petroleum products for domestic and regional markets.

Groundbreaking for the Kenyan refinery was initially expected in September or October 2026, with completion targeted for 2030. The project is expected to inject about $4 billion into the Kenyan economy annually and could contribute as much as 10 per cent of Kenya’s GDP when combined with other major industrial projects in the pipeline.