Greenpeace Africa has demanded a halt to Aliko Dangote’s proposed mega oil refinery earmarked for Kenya’s Lamu port, cautioning that the 700,000-barrel-per-day facility could inflict serious damage on one of East Africa’s most delicate coastal ecosystems. The project, confirmed this month to be sited at Lamu after months of uncertainty over whether Tanzania might host it instead, is expected to take roughly two and a half years to build.
Campaigners warn construction and operation could trigger habitat loss, marine pollution, oil-spill hazards and poor air quality in a region whose mangroves, coral reefs and seagrass beds sustain local fisheries and coastal protection. Greenpeace is pressing for the $17 billion venture to be suspended until an independent environmental and social impact assessment is carried out, alongside genuine public consultation and transparent scrutiny of its long-term risks.
Kenyan President William Ruto has backed the refinery, pointing to its job-creation potential in a country where about 800,000 young people enter the labour market each year, according to World Bank figures. Greenpeace argues the employment gains would be short-lived and would come at the expense of established livelihoods in fishing and tourism, warning the refinery could become a stranded asset as the global energy transition accelerates. Key questions remain unresolved, including how the project will be financed and where its crude feedstock will come from.
Source: france24.com