African heads of state break ground for $16B oil refinery project

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African heads of state break ground for $16B oil refinery project

2026-09-30 19:13 Last Updated At：19:31

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Five African heads of state led a ground breaking ceremony Wednesday on a $16-billion oil refinery project in East Africa, following calls for the continent to boost its self-sufficiency in processing raw materials into finished products.

Kenya’s President William Ruto hosted his counterparts from Uganda, Ethiopia, Togo, Benin as well as Nigeria's former President Olusegun Obasanjo, shoveling soil at the site to symbolically show construction of the refinery has started.

When work is completed in 40 months, the refinery is expected to process 700,000 barrels of oil per day.

The project, in the coastal town of Lamu, will be undertaken by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, who insisted that “Africa must industrialize Africa." He said Wednesday the continent cannot be “exporting what it has and importing what it needs.”

The refinery will rely on oil from neighboring countries such as Uganda, which plans to export oil through Tanzania, and South Sudan, which exports oil via Sudan.

Dangote said East African countries have a sufficient market for the oil that will be refined locally. The countries in the region consume much more than the 700,000 barrels per day that will be refined, he said.

The refinery was initially planned to be built in Tanzania’s coastal town of Tanga, but Dangote said it was later determined that Lamu had deeper waters, solid ground capable of supporting the heavy equipment, and deep-sea access.

Other East African countries – Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, and Tanzania – sent heads of delegation to represent their heads of state at the ceremony.

An Israel-bound plane diverts to Saudi Arabia for emergency landing and other Mideast developments

Concerns about a possible airplane hijacking briefly gripped Israel, while the Lebanese army said the latest Israeli strike in southern Lebanon wounded a soldier and three civilians.

Meanwhile, in Iran, authorities executed two people accused of violence against security forces during the country's January protests.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Wednesday. Full coverage is available here.

A commercial plane traveling from the United Arab Emirates to Israel made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, briefly raising concerns about a possible hijacking and prompting Israel to scramble warplanes on Wednesday morning.

A regional official briefed on the incident, who spoke anonymously to be able to talk to the media, said a fight broke out in the cockpit and apparently involved pilots. It wasn’t immediately clear what had caused the fight.

Passengers on the plane told Israel’s Channel 12 by phone that they heard shouts from other travelers in the forward cabin during the altercation, saying the plane dipped steeply before landing in Saudi Arabia.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office later said the situation was under control.

— By Samy Magdy in Cairo

An Israeli strike hit a Lebanese military vehicle in the village of Nabatiyeh al-Fawqa Wednesday, seriously wounding a soldier, the Lebanese army said. Three civilians were also wounded in the strike.

It was not clear why the army vehicle was targeted. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Lebanese and Israeli governments in June reached an agreement under which the Israeli military was to withdraw gradually from southern Lebanon and allow the Lebanese army to take control, in exchange for disarmament of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Implementation of the deal has stalled.

Hezbollah and Israel’s latest war began on March 2, when the group fired missiles across the border two days after Israel and the U.S. launched their war with Iran. Israel responded with bombardment and a ground invasion of Lebanon and is now occupying a large swath of the country’s south.

The Lebanese army is not party to the war.

Iran executed two men Wednesday over what it said was their role in violence during nationwide anti-government protests in January, state media reported.

IRNA, citing the judiciary, said the men took part in unrest in the northeastern city of Mashhad that left four security officers dead. The judiciary said the men confessed to violence, including setting fires and damaging public property. It also said one had confessed to stabbing a member of Iran's paramilitary force. Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the sentences before they were carried out Wednesday morning.

The unrest began Dec. 28 amid anger over Iran’s collapsing currency and worsening economy and quickly spread across the country, with demonstrators increasingly calling for the overthrow of the ruling clerical system. Iranian authorities responded with a deadly crackdown.

Dozens of Iranians have since been executed in connection with the protests, according to state media in Iran.

Executions are not uncommon in Iran and are often reserved for political prisoners. Rights groups say the accused are usually tried in secretive courts based on forced confessions extracted through torture.

The U.S. military announced on Wednesday that it had completed the withdrawal of its troops from Iraq, ending a 12-year mission to fight the Islamic State group.

Baghdad touted the move as a sign of the country’s growing strength and sovereignty. It was also celebrated by Iran-backed groups but raised concerns among some other Iraqis, particularly in the Kurdish region.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, in a statement, called it an “orderly departure” and said that the withdrawal “marks a transition from a wartime coalition mission to an Iraqi-led security effort supported by a more normal bilateral security relationship.”

This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.